Lightbringer
by distorted focus
Summary: In his youth, not yet consumed by jealousy and anger against his brother, Loki had a strange meeting with a seemingly reckless young woman. Many years later, she returns and is introduced to him as a dragon - one of the ancient guardians of Yggdrasil - with the task of evaluating his former crimes, and Loki finds himself facing a whole different conflict. (Dark World spoilers /o/)
1. Prologue - How Not To Fall

It was yet another endless celebration in his brother's honor, and as the many that preceded it, he pretended to enjoy himself. With all the magic tricks he had learned from his mother and the books he studied, he couldn't bring himself to be truly happy for Thor, to grant him the credit he probably deserved.

Long, richly filled tables lined the great hall, bursting with all sorts of delicacies and guests enjoying themselves. Loki smiled politely at a governor from the western riverlands, who had done little else all evening than ramble on about politics until the prince was sure his ears would start bleeding. Usually, he liked long discussions, for his prowess in eloquence and conversation was one of the traits he held dear about himself.

But today, the master of mischief and prince of Asgard wasn't in the mood to talk. In fact, he wanted to flee the room and bury himself in one of his books just to escape this repeated show of his brother's superiority, but it was the beseeching look from his mother that made him endure it. Retaining a mildly bored expression, Loki let his gaze wander around the room. It passed over Thor and Sif, probably exchanging joking comments about battle skills. Fandral, of course with two maids sitting next to him, flashing his dazzling smile. The Allfather, looking stern but content with the events. Not far from him, at a table that was usually reserved for special guests, his gaze passed a pair of eyes watching him curiously.

He darted back to them. Yes, she was definitely looking at him. A slender, almost fragile young woman in a flowing silver robe. Loki didn't usually look at women too closely, so he didn't know much about what men thought to be beautiful. Magic was something he knew, and this one looked as close to magical as a woman could get. Long, white hair fell around her shoulders in waves. The pale skin of her smooth, oval face and lithe hands was aglow with the soft orange light. Her grey eyes seemed strangely old in her youthful face. She broke the taxing stare she was giving him to lean over as the man next to her whispered something in her ear. Her expression lit up with a smile.

Maybe he should look at women more often. There seem to be some worthy of his attention… He shook his head slightly as if to dismiss the thought. But for some reason, he found that his eyes wouldn't obey his thoughts, and so all through the evening, he returned to steal fleeting glances at the silver woman, wondering why she had scrutinized him. If it was purely about appearance, Thor was a much more imposing figure to look at. Even though Loki was wearing his gold and green ceremonial clothes today, people would usually overlook him when his brother was around.

When he turned to her direction again, she was gone. But he saw a piece of billowing silver cloth disappear behind one of the pillars, heading toward the great terrace. After a moment of pondering, he decided that it would certainly do no harm to pursue the most interesting thing that happened all night. And so he excused himself, following her.

When Loki stepped out onto the ornately fenced terrace with Asgard's starry sky twinkling above, he froze. The woman was leaning over the balustrade in an impossible angle, swaying slightly as if she'd fall over the edge at any second. But the look on her face was joyful, almost curious as she watched the people down in the gardens take their strolls between his mother's rosebushes.

"That's dangerous.", was all he could say, but even that was horribly wrong. Startled and shocked, her hand slipped. If the situation wasn't as hazardous, he would have laughed at the strange way she flapped her arms when she turned mid-fall, like a bird flapping its wings. Loki rushed forward and grabbed one of her flailing hands, his other arm wrapping around her waist before she could plunge to the grounds below.

Touching her sent an almost electrifying jolt through him, as though he had been hit by Thor's lightning strike. He became aware of several things at once in this single, brief moment: Some strange kind of magic that he had never encountered before. Despite nearly unnoticeable, Loki could feel it surge in her, probing the edges of her being, begging to be set free. And then there was the pure softness of her skin, which was a whole different kind of magic, but just as unfamiliar to him. It was like running his fingers over the smoothest fabric ever woven.

Suddenly he realized that he was still holding her even though the danger had long passed, but she didn't look offended at all, rather mystified. Steadying her on her feet again, he let go of her quickly and she blinked in surprise.

"Your Highness… Thank you.", she said in a musical voice and curtsied somewhat awkwardly.

"What were you doing, my lady? We're a hundred feet up. You may very likely have broken your neck.", he said, sounding too annoyed for his own taste. The young woman looked at him with an oblivious expression, as if it was news to her that falling a hundred feet deep could be lethal.

"I was merely admiring the view, your Grace.", she said innocently. Loki noticed she spoke with a strange singsong accent. The words came out all stretched and rhythmic.

"It would be wise if you wouldn't lean over the balustrade so far the next time. In fact, I shall instruct you in the proper use of balustrades, if you would indulge me.", Loki said politely. She smiled at this and bowed down graciously. It felt like a game between them, a kind of dance.

"Please do. After saving my life, it would be most impudent of me to deny." He stepped to the balustrade and put his hands on the cold stone, leaning forward a safe distance. She mimicked his moves, watching him closely with her unusual grey eyes.

"Am I mistaken in assuming this is your first visit to the palace?", Loki asked her with a sideways glance. There was no other explanation to why she would be so fascinated by the gardens.

"No, you are correct, your Grace.", she answered. He turned from the marvellous view to face her.

"Would you tell me your name?" It was a polite, formal request. After all, Loki prized himself for being a gentleman, however inapproachable he may have seemed to most people. The silver woman who thought she could fly smiled at him, radiant as the sun. Something new and yet strangely familiar stirred inside Loki and he found himself returning her smile against his will.

"My name… is Ljosira. It means…", but he finished the sentence for her.

"… born of light."


	2. The Dragon

Loki would remember this moment, the moment he met Ljosira, many years later. He would cherish this memory of her, clumsy like a newborn bird, flailing her arms as if she could take flight, shy and innocent. And full of light. Born of light. As quickly as she came, she disappeared again the next day, and he wouldn't see her until a time when he had plunged so deeply into the darkness of his own soul that he thought no light would ever reach him.

He was sitting alone in his cell – or should it be called his home, for the rest of his life – serving the punishment for his countless crimes, when he heard footsteps. Two sets, one thumping and heavy, the other almost imperceptibly light and feathery. Thor walked into view in front of the energy field, and there she was beside him. The only thing indicating his utter surprise was the way he lowered the book in his hand slightly. She looked different than he remembered, older and much more serious, without the light-heartedness from when they had first met, but still magical.

"Come to gloat, brother?", Loki asked in a sarcastic tone. "And in front of a lady, I see." The flash of hurt in Ljosira's eyes didn't satisfy him as he hoped it would. She probably thought he had forgotten her. To his shock, he regretted his words. Thor ignored the cynical remark, turning to Ljosira.

"The Allfather is convinced he is dangerous and insane, but my mother still believes there is good in him." Thor sighed. "With great respect, I request your sight. What do you see?" Loki's brow furrowed at the humbleness in his brother's words and the deference in his voice as he addressed Ljosira. She stepped forward, so close to the energy wall of his cell that he could have reached out and touch her. Grey, old eyes bore into him, but he held her gaze coldly, unwilling to show any sign of emotion. After a long moment of this, she rubbed her temple wearily.

"Forgive me, your Grace… All the magic in this place clouds my sight.", she fumbled, embarrassed. "I'm… still the youngest. I can see confusion and…" Her voice trailed away, but Thor moved to put a hand on her shoulder. At the last moment, he shied away, as if he'd just remembered something. She looked even more fragile with his brute of a brother by her side, Loki thought.

"There is no need to apologize, ancient one. If anyone has to, it is me.", Thor said. Ancient one? Nobody in the world would have called Ljosira ancient. Something strange was going on here.

"Who is she?", he demanded to know in a harsh and unforgiving tone. Thor gave him a fierce look.

"You would do better to mind your manners, brother. Especially now that you are in the presence of a dragon.", he barked.

Loki froze, his emerald green eyes fixed on Ljosira. A dragon. Of course he had read about the guardians of Yggdrasil, truly immortal creatures. A dragon's lifespan was like his to a Midgardian mortal – a thousand years were merely the blink of an eye. They were such strongly magical beings that their presence would alter the very fabric of reality, therefore they always took on the form of mortals on the rare occasions they chose to communicate with them. Four dragon clans existed in all, and only in the most ancient books did Loki ever come across their names: Lightbringer, Darkflight, Voidwalker and Life-Binder.

In Asgardian myths, the lightbringers and the darkflight made the night turn into day and vice versa, while voidwalkers and life-binders maintained the delicate circle between life and death. All of them were sworn to protect Yggdrasil. If Ljosira really was a dragon, she had to be a Lightbringer – her name meant born of light after all. Which explained why Thor asked her for her sight: Lightbringers were known to see the truth in all things, as their very presence chased shadows away and lifted the curtain of darkness.

"When you met me at the feast… you tried to fly.", Loki said, realizing the reason behind her strange behaviour. Why she had seemed so innocent, like something that had just hatched. It must have been the first time she had been in her mortal form. Ljosira looked at him with bewilderment.

"You remember." Her voice had a slight hint of joy in it, so earnest that Loki almost flinched.

"Why are you here?", he inquired, maintaining a cold and detached expression once more. She sighed and straightened, her tone formal.

"My father, known to Asgard as Elding the Dragon-King, has taken interest in your latest crimes, Loki Laufeyson. He believes that your meddling and war-stirring in other realms goes beyond the power of the Allfather to judge, although he respects Odin greatly. I was sent to evaluate you for trial."

"If I'm even a thorn in the mighty dragon-king's side, maybe I have truly achieved something.", Loki said with a sneer, but Ljosira looked neither impressed nor angry at his open insult. She merely shrugged, and even that gesture seemed strangely unreal, as if she had studied its use improperly.

"He might not have considered himself with a mortal, but he deemed it a worthy task for my rite of passage.", Ljosira noted. Loki had almost forgotten Thor, until his brother spoke again, befuddled.

"You mean… like a coming of age?" Ljosira nodded, smiling at him.

"We prove ourselves worthy by fulfilling a task that requires wisdom, cunning and insight. Only then are we allowed in the council and can serve as guardians of the world tree.", she explained. Thor's brow furrowed.

"At what age does this rite of passage take place?" Ljosira seemed to count for a moment.

"For your friend from Midgard, that would be when we turn five-thousand." This brought a puzzled look even to Loki's impassive face. Five thousand was a long time, even for an Asgardian. For a dragon, it was just adolescence.

"So you're…", Thor began, but she nodded, knowing what he would say before he finished his sentence.

"Yes, I'm considered a… a young one among my brothers and sisters. Although my coming of age, as your Grace calls it, is a special occasion."

"Does it have to do with the Convergence?", Loki asked, intrigued.

"You know your facts, prince. Royal children are always born during the Convergence. Therefore, we always celebrate our rite of passage on the next one.", she explained, watching Loki as one would watch a quaint bird, something that's wildly out of place in its surroundings.

He was still magnificent for a mortal, tall and lean, his raven black hair longer and slightly ruffled, the features of his asgardian face sharper than she remembered, though regal nevertheless. Ljosira could see the intelligence in his deep green eyes mingled with just the smallest trace of his old, jovial mischief.

But now they were overshadowed by something dark gnawing at his soul, feeding him with anger and turning his noble wisdom into ruthless cunning, his playfulness into insane, malicious agitation. As she had told Thor, the magic inside this prison interfered with her ability to see the truth, but this much she could glimpse without her dragon powers.

"Why do you keep staring at me?", Loki demanded with growing annoyance. He hated it when people looked at him with pity in their eyes, like they knew he was a lost cause. A fallen prince, a monster who killed innocents, just because he craved a throne of his own. It was usually pity, or hate, or accusation. Sometimes disgust.

For some reason, Ljosira's look angered him even more, because it felt genuine, and he loathed the thought of genuine. That would mean all his walls of rejection, his castles of lies, his fields of carefully groomed egomania hadn't been enough to detach himself from everything he had ever held dear. Then he would have to accept the fact that it was all his fault, and an immortal being had pitied him for the wretched creature he was, who lashed out and mangled the hand that fed him.

And Ljosira didn't look away. Neither did she speak, just kept her gaze steadily on him. Blind rage clouded his mind before he could contain it, and the contents of his room went flying.

"Stop staring at me!", he yelled, voice distorted by hurt and anger alike. Table, chair, books and drinking cups crashed against the energy field where the immortal dragon stood in the body of a hauntingly beautiful woman. Her eyes widened in shock and Loki found this so utterly nonsensical, so paradox, that he broke out in laughter.

Forget the fact that she was completely safe behind the barrier, but she was a dragon. Even if in some strange, twisted situation, he'd held a blade to her throat or cursed her with powerful magic, it wouldn't scratch her. She'd have snapped his neck before he could say Bifröst. The thought of her being afraid of him – of _him – _it made him guffaw like a maniac.

"Maybe father was right… He has lost his mind.", Thor said in a faint tone. Ljosira shook her head and sighed.

"No, my prince. He is mocking me.", she corrected him. Before she turned to follow Thor out of the dungeon, she looked at Loki one last time. And the hurt that filled her ancient, gentle eyes made his laughter die in his throat. Once again, he was completely and painfully alone.

Outside, in the fresh night air of the prison landing-site, Thor stopped and looked down on Ljosira questioningly.

"You have met my brother before.", he said with knitted eyebrows.

"Yes… Many years ago, when my father presented your father with this.", Ljosira reached out and ran her index finger across Mjölnir, firmly hanging from his hip by its handle. She smiled.

"I have seen it being created. It was beautiful magic, wondrous to behold. A worthy companion for a King.", she added with a nod.

"Your words honor me.", Thor replied, bowing to her. For a moment, her eyes shone with something close to melancholy.

"On that night, your brother did me a kindness. As I said before, it was the first time I had been in my mortal form. I leaned over the balustrade and slipped. Inexperienced as I was, heights meant nothing to me – flying is as natural to dragons as breathing is to you. Your brother… Loki, he caught me before I could fall.", Ljosira explained, smiling slightly.

"What happens when your mortal body dies?", asked Thor curiously.

"Well, it depends on how quickly we can react. If we can shift in time, the worst case is that we leave a part of ourselves behind with it and our power weakens to some degree. But in any case, we are forced to manifest in our true from. Apart from the pandemonium it could have caused if a dragon suddenly came to life right in the middle of your palace garden, my magic could have created a lot of disturbance. Loki didn't know it back then, but he saved Asgard… and me a lot of trouble." She wore an apologetic expression, but Thor saw worry in it too.

"In this process… your brother had to touch me. You may know, for I am certain the Allfather has told you many stories about dragon mythology, that Loki unintentionally broke an unwritten rule by doing so. Young dragons, much like children, are impressionable. They form bonds by touch and share magic between their kin, in such strengthening the links that tie us together. Right now, I feel all my family's presence back home on Yggdrasil. The bond makes sure we are protected. It happens instinctively, and only when we reach maturity we learn to control it. But the bonds we make are for life. Of which we have a very, very long one.", Ljosira lifted her hand while speaking and examined it as though she had never seen it before.

"When your brother touched me to save me from falling, he did something that is technically forbidden: He formed a bond between a mortal and a dragon. A little of my magic seeped into him, while a small part of him was woven into the fabric of my being. Since he always had a talent for sorcery, he didn't ever notice the increase of his powers. I, on the other side… became an oddly emotional dragon, susceptible to things that we shouldn't concern ourselves with too much. A little too mortal." Thor could see a hint of remorse in her youthful face.

"I knew that it is forbidden to touch a young dragon, but my father never explained to me why. Most Asgardians may be under the impression that the unrestrained magical power would simply… well, cause death by explosion." This earned him a wide-eyed, shocked look from Ljosira.

"That's… a dreadful thing to say! We guard magic, we don't use it to blow mortals up…", she sounded aghast while Thor laughed wholeheartedly, his golden hair quivering.

"Now you are mocking me too. I should strike you down where you stand!" She wasn't serious of course, lips twitching with a barely contained smile as she spread her arms in an overly dramatic gesture. Thor, yelping down another laugh, raised his hands ruefully.

"I wouldn't dare, ancient one." He helped her into the sky-striker – carefully avoiding touching her bare skin -, grabbed the stirring handle casually, and they flew off towards the palace. Asgard's gleaming gold towers rushed past them, rising high into the clouds like polished swords.

"Is it dangerous for you? The bond with Loki.", Thor inquired after a time of silence. Ljosira watched as radiant gardens and delicate rows of houses on beautiful hillsides passed by below.

"Not in a sense that you associate with danger, your Grace.", she answered enigmatically. Thor had a feeling she didn't want to say more, so he decided not to press the issue, instead addressing another one.

"I wish you would stop calling me that.", he complained.

"Whyever so?", Ljosira asked with raised eyebrows.

"It strikes me as wrong, being spoken to as though you were beneath me. Please call me Thor." He looked a little uncomfortable.

"As you wish, Thor. My father instructed me to follow your world's customs, as a sign of courtesy.", she smiled at him.


	3. The Bond

The palace landing-site was deserted at this time of the evening. Ljosira had arrived long after night-fall, but the swirling, shifting nebulae in Asgard's sky cast a faint, soft light even when it was darkest. She had loved Asgard ever since she had first looked down on it from Yggdrasil, when she was nothing but a freshly hatched fledgling. The eyes of a Lightbringer were unmatched even among the other dragon-flights. One of her brothers, of course with the blessing of the Dragon King, had once forged a bond between an Asgardian and himself, giving him the power of a Lightbringer's eyes. Her brother's rite of passage was to seek a worthy mortal among the realm that maintained peace across the Nine and grant him an ability to help in this endeavour.

As a mere child, Ljosira watched how Heimdall came to be the Gatekeeper of the Bifröst. She saw time pass and Thor be born, a beautiful, strong child with golden hair and eyes bluer than the sky. And she saw Loki arrive, felt the magical potential in his small form, and the love with which Frigga cared for him.

But as they grew, the chasm between the two brothers who weren't brothers by blood opened wider the more it became clear how different they were. Thor ventured out into the world, gathered mighty warriors as his friends, always confident, strong and undeviating about his place on Asgard's throne, like a mighty thunderstorm. A true crown prince, but too impulsive, too much temperament.

Loki, on the other side, grew up to be a quiet, solitary, sinuous man, devoted to knowledge and magic, but unable to step out of his brother's over-towering shadow. Therefore he came to be consumed by bitterness, for he kept people at a distance carefully, just to drown in loneliness in return. Self-doubts and inferiority started to twist the love for Thor into hatred and jealousy, until they finally spawned a demon he couldn't hope to control.

He could have turned back after bringing the frost-giants to Asgard during the crowning. By then, Ljosira was already bonded to him, her gaze never able to trail too far from him, for a life-bond didn't let you turn your eyes away. A part of you was always aware of the other's presence. And then came what had to come from Loki's misguided mind. As Ljosira stepped through the vast palace entrance hall, the Allfather seated on a throne at the far end, she remembered that day. The day when Thor hammered the Bifröst with Mjölnir until it burst apart.

_She sat on Yggdrasil's shimmering, star-banded branch, watching Asgard with growing worry. A giant pair of wings closed in on her, but she didn't move her gaze, the bond's pull too strong. It was in danger. Loki was in danger. And that was the only time when the bond became overwhelming – for its prime purpose had always been to protect._

_"You were missed at the meeting.", Elding the Dragon King landed on a branch beside her. Even for a Lightbringer he was huge and imposing. Eight horns crowned his head, and he seemed to glow with a soothing light the color of warm dawn. _

_"But it is no secret were to find you when you go missing. You are watching over Asgard again." It wasn't a question. "What do you see?" Her father didn't need to be told what she saw happening on the Bifröst, but this was his way of teaching his children to look beyond. _

_"I see brother turn against brother.", Ljosira answered sadly. Elding heaved a large sigh that made the sun's light flicker a little on one of the Nine Worlds. _

_"The bond you have with this mortal… It does you no good, my little one. ", he said heavily. Elding knew that none of them could be blamed for the making of the bond. Neither did Loki know what he did by grabbing her hand, nor did Ljosira have a choice if she wanted to spare Asgard a disturbing incident. She never told her father, but she doubted that she could have shifted from her mortal form quickly enough. Young dragons, especially the first time, had to learn the process of shifting, for such magic was powerful and difficult. Though Ljosira would never know for sure… it was possible Loki saved her life on that day. _

_"You strengthened his affinity to magic. A pity you didn't cast out the darkness that lurks in his soul. He is drowning in it.", her father mused, turning his gaze to the Bifröst. Loki was harnessing its energy to send a destructive beam through Jotunheim, while Thor tried to talk sense into him without success. _

_"Don't you want to intervene?", Ljosira looked at her father with worry. Elding's eyes shifted to something that was farther away, deeper into Asgard. _

_"No. Odin will handle it.", he then said in an even voice. They watched as the brothers fought desperately, screaming words full of hatred at each other, while they waged a whole different war in their minds, on their own. _

_Thor was now hammering the Bifröst with all of his might, the thunderous blows echoed along Yggdrasil like the shiver of some giant beast. His aura was full of misery and sorrow and anger. When she tried to read Loki's, she was shocked at the mess of confusion, self-loathing and blind lust for revenge. Even her Lightbringer's sight couldn't disentangle the maze-like chaos in his thoughts. Ljosira jolted up as Thor's mutilation of the world-bridge continued. _

_"What is he doing?", she asked, alarmed. _

_"If he destroys the Bifröst, Loki can't go through with his plan to eradicate Jotunheim.", her father explained. Thor succeeded. The rainbow bridge broke into pieces and he was flung from its shattered remains together with Loki. But her father was proven right: Odin had awoken and come to rescue his sons. As they were dangling from his spear Ljosira felt a sharp pain pass through her great heart, when Loki realized that he'd failed in gaining his father's approval. Once again, he missed the truth everyone around him tried to make him see, because the demon he had called to life buried its claws in his mangled sanity. _

_Nobody had ever needed truth more desperately than this foolish trickster. Loki's hand slipped down the spear. He let go. Fell into the darkness. And Ljosira, before she could stop herself, let out a roar that rang on and on in the void between the worlds. She shot from Yggdrasil's branch, but her father's giant, shimmering body blocked her way. _

_"He brought this upon himself!", Elding said angrily. _

_"Father… please!", she pleaded, trying to dart around him, anxious and frightened because she felt the bond slipping away from her. Elding's expression softened when he saw the sorrow on her draconic features. _

_"If you save him now, and he turns to evil again… Then his judgement falls into the hands of the dragon-flights. And you will have to present his case to the council." With a thorough, piercing look at his daughter, Elding moved to the side and she gave him a quick affectionate nuzzle, before she dropped into the deep. _

_"Thank you, father.", Ljosira formed the words in her thoughts as she rapidly gained on Loki, who was falling from the edge of the world. Unusual eruptions of magic shook the air as the destruction of the Bifröst created an imbalance that ripped at the fabric of reality. More than once Ljosira was flung around by outlandish currents threatening to throw her off course, but she was determined to reach Loki. She was glad he was already unconscious, because she just managed to slip under him and catch him on her back before he hit the nether, the border to nothingness. _

_A slight shiver of relief ran through her and she climbed upwards again. In this short time, they had travelled much too far. Time and space were unstable between the worlds, and especially further away from the stabilizing energy of Yggdrasil. One could fly into a distortion and come out at the other end of the universe. Jagged rocks and strange formations floated around her in dead space and Ljosira landed on one of them to compose and regain her orientation. She turned her head around. Loki was lying on her back, looking strangely young and peaceful when rage didn't distort his features. Almost like the juvenile, confused boy he still was. Just as she looked up and glimpsed Yggdrasil, a rock formation shifted. _

_Ljosira had been too preoccupied to see that one of the rocks wasn't a rock at all. It was some giant, otherworldly monster. And then she made a mistake she would always regret for the remainder of her long, long life. Fear, a partly mortal, partly childish instinct, made her flee. Loki's body slipped from her back and hit the ground with a thud, and too late she saw that she had lost him. The worm-like monster coiled and followed her like she had just ignited a giant flare in a room full of light-sensitive predators. As fast as her wings would carry her, Ljosira flew on until she almost collided with a great black shape. Onyx claws grabbed her back into balance and she was looking into the etched face of Natta, the Darkflight leader. _

_"Princess Ljosira!", she exclaimed in surprise, but the named princess whipped around for the monster that had pursued her. It went crashing into a barrier of pure shade and stumbled back, frustrated. _

_"How did you come to venture into the Chitauri quarantine?", Natta inquired, sounding worried. _

_"I… I lost something. I need to go back!", Ljosira was frantic. She had left Loki behind in that dreadful place. But Natta gripped her firmly with her claws. _

_"I can't let you do that. It's too dangerous. I'll escort you back into your father's realm.", she stated in a voice that didn't allow protest. And the Princess of Dragons had no choice but to obey._

Ljosira came to a halt in front of Odin's throne, trying hard not to dwell on these past events too much. She had yet to confess these things to the Asgardians – that it was her responsibility that Loki turned to evil again, because she dropped him into the Chitauri quarantine in some kind of twisted, bad joke.

The task Elding gave her, to evaluate Loki for trial, was both a punishment and a gift. Instead of casting the shadows away as she was supposed to, she had brought more darkness unto both Loki and Midgard, which was the realm to suffer from her mistake the most. But she still had a chance to set it right again.

"Ancient one, Princess of Dragons, now that you have looked upon Loki, can you better judge his crimes?", Odin inquired, standing up to bow his head in her presence. Ljosira took a deep breath. _Head high, chin up, shoulders back. You are a dragon. When you admit a mistake, you need to keep your pride. Don't forget that., _her father had said. So she recounted the memory of that day when the Bifröst was destroyed to the Allfather, for Lightbringers did not lie. He listened patiently. So did Frigga and Thor who both stood still to his right.

"So with great sorrow and regret, I apologize for my mistake, which has brought so much trouble and pain upon your shoulders, Allfather.", she concluded, turning her gaze to the ground. A single tear rolled down her cheek, crystal clear, a manifestation of the genuine wish to undo her mistake. Odin was suddenly by her side, his hand outstretched to catch it in his palm. His face wasn't angry, even less stern than usually.

"A dragon's tear. In all my life, I have never seen one shed. They have the power to humble even the greatest of kings, to calm the most wrathful heart.", he said, looking at his hand curiously. "Yet… I do not blame you for what happened." Ljosira raised her eyes to meet the Allfather's single one.

"You do not?", she asked in surprise.

"You had no obligation to save my son, but you did. Even a dragon could not have predicted what strange currents activated on that night, so you didn't drop Loki in Chitauri space on purpose. And even if all that was your fault – which it isn't – Loki had a choice. He chose to side with evil again.", Odin went on.

"With respect, Allfather… Something about all this doesn't seem right. I have… an apprehension.", Ljosira's eyebrows knitted in concern.

"Please speak, ancient one." It was Frigga who had stepped forward, her eyes hopeful.

"My Darkflight brothers banished the Chitauri a long time ago, for their powers to corrupt and consume the mortal's minds were deemed dangerous, their hunger for destruction something we wished to keep from being unleashed. The staff they gave Loki…", she paused to raise her hands and conjure a mental image of the weapon. It shimmered blue, the blade-like curve ending in a sharp barb, cradling a vortex of whispering, seething energy. The royal family stared at it as if it was a poisonous snake.

"… this is a Chitauri weapon as formidable as they can be – the magic inside it feeds from conflict, from doubts, from our deepest and most unspeakable desires. It controls its wielder as much as he controls it, but subtler. If Loki thought he was its master, he was gravely mistaken." The image above her hands dissolved into tiny specks of light and she sighed.

"I fear… he was overcome by the weapon's power. There is an ancient saying on Midgard: _He who fights with monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you._"

"The Midgardians are wiser than I thought.", Odin said with an approving look. Frigga put her hands together and looked at Ljosira pleadingly.

"Please, ancient one… Does this mean he can still redeem himself? Can the darkness be purged?" Her voice carried a mother's love. Ljosira felt pressured and self-doubts made her fumble nervously.

"I… I'm not my father's light. I'm still the youngest… Right now, I can't tell too well… The magic in the prison clouds my vision…", she stuttered. Thor put a hand on his mother's shoulder.

"You're making her nervous, mother. She's only four-thousand-something old. A child among her people. Don't pressure her with high hopes.", the crown prince said gently. Frigga looked apologetic, but Ljosira wanted so badly to help her, it somehow gave her confidence.

"If… you'd let me talk to him alone… Maybe let me into the cell? I could see much better if the barrier wouldn't interfere.", she proposed cautiously.

"No. He could hurt you.", Thor said at once, but Ljosira shook her head.

"His only weapon now is trickery. And one cannot trick a bearer of truth. At least… not easily.", she smiled weakly.

"What about the bond? If he tries to exploit it –", Thor interjected again. He seemed to be very protective, like an older brother, hating the thought that harm could befall her under his watch.

"Thor, do not let her looks fool you. She is much stronger than you think. Besides, Loki has no knowledge of the bond.", Odin said firmly.

"I need time. The rite of passage is very important to me – this task even more. I promise to do my best.", Ljosira tried to say in a resolute tone. Frigga and the Allfather exchanged a long look, then they both nodded.

"Take all the time you need, ancient one. You may visit Loki's prison freely. But let us first assess the situation a little better, before you enter his cell. Also I must tell you that I won't allow it if he harms you in any way. The dragon king would have my head.", Odin said, his lips twitching slightly.

"My dear wife will show you to your quarters. Please feel free to use them as long as you like." Ljosira thanked the Allfather and bowed to him respectfully before following Frigga out of the throne hall. The mother who raised Thor and Loki was a gentle-looking, kind woman with the air of wisdom and strength cloaking her equally. But there was a deep sadness in her aura that shone so brightly as if it had been imprinted on her very skin. The two women didn't speak as they passed through the dozens of winding hallways and corridors, all lined with motionless guards. Ljosira's steps slowed down when she was lead past a great double-door adorned in beautiful emerald green, gold and dark onyx. Frigga noticed her hesitation.

"Loki's quarters…", she said thoughtfully, walking to stand next to Ljosira. "Can you still sense his presence?" The Lightbringer nodded.

"Through the bond, I am mostly aware of it. It is not a strong pull like a magnet's… rather a reminding whisper. 'Here I am', he says…", her words trailed away with a feeling of embarrassment lingering on. She felt strange describing this to Loki's mother. But Frigga looked intrigued, almost urging her to continue.

"What do you hear from this room?", she asked quietly. Ljosira eyed the great doors, exhaled, and tried to look beyond, like her father taught her.

"_'Here I lived for most of my life. Here is my sanctuary. Here I shed my cloak of lies._'", she whispered. Frigga let out a sigh and inclined her head, as though the words didn't surprise her, but rather came as a confirmation of her own thoughts.

"Would it help… if you could look around?", the queen proposed.

"It may…", Ljosira mused. Frigga pushed down the handle and they stepped into Loki's quarters.

The night sky glimpsed through the high balcony lining most of the room's opposite wall. Long green curtains hung from its sides, slightly billowing in the breeze. Several pillowed armchairs and a particularly elegant chaise longue stood arranged in a perfect half circle around the impressive fireplace from smooth dark marble. The whole interior was tastefully arranged: statues and trinkets on raised daises, strange, curved artefacts resting on their sockets, bookshelves that towered so high into the room they seemed to disappear into darkness, smooth lamps from milky glass that lit up when someone approached them.

Everything was meticulously in order. Except Loki's desk – which was the only thing in the room that indicated any chaos, yet it was the most impressive part of it. Open books, scribbled notes, used quills, keys and other, less obvious objects that emitted faint residual magic were scattered on the ebon wood. The desk itself was a masterwork of carpentry, inlaid with beautiful carvings where the user would be able to marvel at them, but the workplace left plainly empty of decoration and polished to a gleam.

"He loved this desk.", Ljosira mumbled to herself, though Frigga listened attentively. "_'Here I escape into stories and sorcery, where battles are won by wit and cunning, not brute strength. Here my ideas come easy and unclouded, and my favourite riddles keep me company.'_" As if breaking from a trance, her eyes flickered to the queen. Frigga smiled.

"You seem to know him just from looking at these things.", she mused.

"A Lightbringer's sight is a great gift… and a heavy burden. For you may often see things that you wish you hadn't.", Ljosira said with a hint of pain in her voice. To demonstrate what she meant, she reached out and pulled one of the books closer. It was a small tome with heavy, dark runes on its navy cover. Inside they found a detailed history of the Jotunheim war, adorned with enchanted illustrations.

"This… what it whispers, I would rather not say. The words are too heavy with hurt, hatred and doubt. They are angry, unfocused… and full of agony.", Ljosira told the queen, closing the book again with a sigh. Frigga's gaze was still trained on it, but she seemed to be in deep thought.

"My son was beyond reason at the end… I couldn't explain the truth to him. He tried so hard not to believe it, until even my words weren't capable of reaching him.", the queen said, sadness clear in her voice.

"Your Highness, it bodes you ill to blame yourself for what he has become. For many a mind, darkness is like a welcomed veil, when the truth is too painful to accept.", Ljosira said regretfully.

When she turned her head to the other side of the room, she saw a second door, almost hidden by the gloomy lighting. It was adjacent to Loki's study, so it had to be his bedroom. A strange chill went down her spine and for some reason she wondered what his bed looked like. If it was grand and wide, draped with soft sheets woven from highlands thread and the silver fur of mountain wolves, as it would suit a prince… Realizing that she had stared at his bedroom door for an unreasonable amount of time, Ljosira cleared her throat.

"My queen, would you mind escorting me to my chambers? The day has taken its toll…", she mumbled a bit embarrassed. If the queen had noticed, she didn't show, and Ljosira was too confused to use her sight. She was lead from Loki's quarters and into her own, which were just one door further. As a child, she had begged her father to visit Asgard in a mortal form.

All the beautiful things people could create – delicate stitching on the chairs and stools of her room, curtains made from the smoothest silk, a mirror circled by silver and gold flowers, vibrant tapestries depicting scenes from Asgardian history. In contrast to Loki's quarters, hers didn't have a fireplace, but rather a giant, metal pan in which unsmoking embers radiated their heat. Even the floor tiles and walls had loving detail, inlaid with all sorts of colourful mosaics. Her impressive four-poster bed's drapes almost seemed to be alive with the beautiful scenery of birds and flowers embroidered on them.

After bidding the queen good-night, Ljosira changed into a nightgown laid out for her. Then she pulled back the heavy white furs, the satin sheets, the peculiarly shaped pillows, and slipped into her bed. Sleeping as a mortal was the strangest thing – dreams were vivid and emotional, much blurrier than a dragon's dreams. She saw Loki holding the bond that tied her to him in his hands, like a solid, thick rope. Then it turned into a snake, coiling around him and strangling him while she despaired in the attempt of ripping the murderous creation from his screaming body. And she could feel his pain, feel him dying, but he kept cursing at her for ever letting something like this happen with his last breaths. His words, distorted by hatred and wrath, hurt more than any wound he could inflict – for they despised the bond, the very thing that had made her fond of Asgard and the mortals in the first place.


	4. Confrontations, Negotiations

Ljosira woke with a jolt, the last notes of her agonized cry still on her lips, panting rapidly and drenched in sweat. She leaned forward for a long moment and buried her face in her hands, drawing a rattling breath. What was she going to do? If she failed in bringing Loki back… in casting out the darkness – assuming there was any at all, and he was not simply insane – the Council might deny her rite of passage, and even decide to execute him. And what if he really hated her when he found out about the nature of the bond. That it was responsible for him landing in the Chitauri's claws.

Unable to sleep with these worried thoughts and her nightmare still so fresh, she flung the sheets aside and stood up to pour water from a crystal carafe into a matching glass. She drank absently and peered through the curtains into the starry sky. It was the dead of the night. Ljosira didn't know what really drove her to do it – if it was the bond, or the nightmare, or simply some part of mortal sentimentality – but she dressed quickly and left her quarters.

Nobody bothered her when she hurried through the palace to the landing-site, where she got into a sky-striker. It wasn't easy to navigate – but her magic did the trick. The prison was oddly empty of guards, except for two very tired ones who were about to doze off when they saw her approach. They let her pass without a second guess – she had clearance after all.

Ljosira came to halt in front of his cell. Loki seemed to be sleeping on a narrow cot. She stepped closer to the barrier, until she was less than an inch away from it, able to see his face clearly. For an endless moment, she just stood and watched him, thinking about that brief touch they had shared so many years ago.

Mortals had unusually sensitive skin – they could experience a thousand shades of softness where a dragon's scales could not. Dragons felt touch differently, not in a physical way, but in an ethereal one. Yet Ljosira remembered very clearly how his long, slender fingers had closed around hers and he had pulled her against his body. It had been strong for his stature, muscular but lithe, like a willow tree. What a strange, new sensation it had been, she could only stand still, mystified. His hands were a whole other thing. Ljosira had watched them weave the most delicate magic from afar, the hands of a skilled musician playing his favourite instrument. Elegant, gentle… yet with passionate determination. Not knowing where it came from, she wondered what they would feel like on her bare skin, not to save her from falling, but trying to weave an entirely different spell that had little to do with magic… A shudder went through her and she felt the skin on her arms prickle. She couldn't define the sensation that surged through her, for she had never felt it before.

"I doubted you would return after what happened.", Loki's voice almost made her flinch, and for once she wished to be a dragon again, because the faces of mortals showed emotion much too easily. His deep green eyes were open and fixed on Ljosira and she noticed that his expression was calm, but guarded.

"Why?", she simply asked. Loki smiled arrogantly and sat up, crossing his arms.

"I was under the impression that I had scared you. Or succeeded in chasing you away with my behaviour.", he answered. To his surprise, she smiled almost scornfully.

"You would like that, would you not? _Mighty, terrible Loki, who makes even dragons cower in fear. What a cowardly dragon it must be, to be frightened of a mortal. _Something like this, is it?" There was barely contained sarcasm in her voice and his grin faltered.

"Did you come to mock me? I'd just like to know, because mocking never gets old. It seems to be a frequent visitor since I was put here.", he said with a fake sigh.

Ljosira had to hand it to him – he was an excellent actor. But there was nobody around to play his audience anymore, and yet he kept acting as though to an invisible crowd. It made him a pitiful figure in her eyes.

"Mocking is a mortal invention I have no use for. There is no reason why I'm here." That was a blatant lie, but father would forgive her for this one – Loki didn't need to know why she was here while he openly insulted her.

"There is a reason for everything.", he simply said, and for the first time his voice wasn't filled with contempt or offense.

"Maybe you have already evaluated me as you were supposed to, and now come to take a last look before you… I don't know how dragons execute prisoners – bite my head off?", he continued, almost amused.

"You may be misjudging all numbers of things. First of all, aiming to bite off a head is almost impossible – the jaws are too big. Maybe if I were Darkflight… they are smaller. Secondly, I am not the one to carry out your judgement. In a sense, I am your advocate, but a little more neutral.", she explained.

"Why do I even get an advocate? I thought Lightbringers can see everything, so can't they just look at me and see if I'm guilty? Not that it's much of a question, anyway…", Loki mused. Ljosira couldn't help the twitch of her lips.

"If it isn't a question, then why do you ask?", she retorted. At her words, Loki's face lightened with surprise and something that looked like curiosity. She was sharp, this one. But why was he so surprised? She was a dragon, a being who wasn't easily fooled by default, and then a Lightbringer, a bearer of truth with unerring vision. And yet the conversation amused him, as it had been a long time since he'd talked to someone equally good at the art of discussion. Someone who truly piqued his interest and was able to hold it.

"No reason.", he lied. This made her laugh lightly, and he felt a strange sensation at the sound, as though a little bird fluttered in his chest. He dismissed it as part of the witty jest they were having. But it wasn't easy to ignore the way her face lit up when she smiled, how her hair looked a little ruffled from sleep, how she had failed to put on her robe properly and it had slipped slightly, revealing a perfect patch of dove-white skin on her shoulder.

"You get an advocate because the circumstances of your case are… unclear.", she answered calmly, prowling the length of the barrier.

"What is it that's unclear about it? I joined forces with an army of aliens to rule Midgard as a benevolent god!", he exclaimed impatiently. Ljosira was keeping something from him, Loki sensed it. Suddenly the playful air from before vanished and she spun around to glare at him with a look that would have silenced braver mortals than him.

"Do _not_ lie to me, trickster!", her voice was suddenly deeper and menacing, almost the roar of an angry beast – or a dragon. The aura in his cell changed, lights started to flicker, the ground seemed to rumble, and Loki could feel a bit of unrestrained magic, its pressure making it hard to breathe.

"Why did you make the deal with the Chitauri?", she growled at him. He knew he had taken it too far with the dragon's patience, that the next thing he'd say could very well be the last words of his life.

"Why do you keep avoiding every question I ask?!", he countered nevertheless.

_Now I am going to die_, he thought.

Ljosira would turn into a dragon and simply burn him to a pile of ash with her wrathful fire. Loki saw a fraction of unspeakable anger flicker in her eyes, and he recoiled in expectance of the death-blow that was sure to come. Only it never did. Instead, her shoulders sagged and her divine fury vanished, making place for something he couldn't grasp: It looked like a sad kind of guilt.

"Because you are not asking them right.", Ljosira said quietly. This staggered him. She had just turned and was about to leave, when Loki's voice, bereft of its usual velvet arrogance, made her stop.

"Wait." It was nearly a whisper. Was he starting to sense the bond after all? She paused, but didn't face him, just kept standing there with her back to him. "I am still alive.", he added, sounding incredulous.

"It would seem so.", she sighed. Loki leaned against the wall above the barrier, trying hard to read what she was thinking. Even though her emotions unveiled in her demeanour clearly, he wasn't closer to figuring her out at all. Rather further away than before.

"Do you wish that I was not?", he asked in earnest, almost gently. Ljosira lifted her head as if the prison's ceiling held the answer and gave it a slight shake, before her piercing grey eyes found Loki's.

With such honesty that it left him speechless, she said, "I wish you would stop looking at me like I'm your enemy."

And then she was gone before Loki could gather his wits. In the silence that followed, he sank back onto his cot, dropping his hands to his knees weakly. He was confused. What else could he see in her than an enemy? Anything other would require some sort of trust, and that was a thing he avoided with great care. Distance was good, because it made his actions and thoughts unpredictable. It was convenient. But could he really keep up that act?

The problem wasn't her being a Lightbringer – which made tricking her a nearly impossible task. Loki had a nagging feeling that the reason he was trying so hard to push her over the edge, to agitate and insult her, was because he had already lost the battle of shutting her out a long time ago. It didn't help at all that his efforts were seemingly fruitless, neither did the tiny voice in his head speaking with maddening certainty: _You can trust her._ But then the other, much more sinister and gleeful voice piped up. _Yes! Pretend you trust her – with the powers of a dragon, we will be invincible!_

Loki buried his head in his hands, shaking slightly. Was that really him speaking? Would he really have pondered the possibility of tricking a dragon to help him? For some time now, a dreadful apprehension had been growing in his mind. People all around him may have thought him mad, but he'd known very much that he was sane.

Only now he wasn't sure anymore. Sometimes he would do or think things that repulsed him, as though there was another, darker side of him that he couldn't control. Until now, he had put it off as manifestations of rage, because Loki was always angry. But what if they weren't? What if he really was going mad? He felt the sudden urge to confide in someone, someone who could reassure him that he wasn't insane, and he thought of Ljosira.

_I wish you would stop looking at me like I'm your enemy. _But where does one pick up when one has never tried to trust? _Because you are not asking them right._ Yes, he could be more polite. Less offensive. Maybe even friendly. That was a start. And then Loki stretched out on his bed again, hoping while he fell asleep that he hadn't chased the dragon princess away for good this time.

After spending the rest of the night tossing and turning in her bed, Ljosira decided to take a quiet stroll through the palace gardens the next morning. She wanted Loki to smoulder about her words at least a few hours as a punishment for him making her so angry. No Lightbringer liked being lied to, but most people thought the reason was the lie itself. Loki, who was too clever for his own good, knew that in reality what made her angry was the insolence of thinking she wouldn't see through his lie. And the other thing… He had actually thought she would kill him.

Ljosira sighed as she sat down in a pavilion cradled by rose-bushes. Ivy leaves ran up along the light carved wood and a cool breeze made them shiver. How could she make him trust her? Because she could feel that he wasn't full of evil or madness. There was confusion and anger, hurt… A lot of emotions that, if uncontrolled, could look like madness. She was still lost deep in thought when a rustling sound startled her.

Lady Sif and Fandral were striding through the garden, but they didn't seem to notice Ljosira sitting shielded from their views in the pavilion. She had always liked Sif – despite never watching her as closely as Loki or Thor, the only female warrior of Asgard was not unknown to her. The beautiful, fierce, brave woman kept her feelings well restricted, but her aura gave her away and Ljosira saw a thread of jealousy woven into it. It was a bright orange color, restrained by careful self-control that glinted in a cold blue. Light red anger became barely visible beneath it, and then there was something not as easily discernable, hidden under layers of rationalization: Wounded pride.

Pride was complicated – the edges were smooth but swirling and braided with other emotions, forming strange connections that needed to be separated by a dragon's sight to see what is beyond. Much like pulling things caught in a net out of it. Ljosira had learned much about the perception of pride in auras while she had watched Loki from afar.

When bordering on arrogance, it was a sickly yellow-green color, in purity it was rich forest-green. And wounded, broken pride, the way she had seen it after his defeat on Midgard… it turned dull, greyish and torn, like cloth washed too many times. The same color she saw beneath the forest-green in Sif now. Ljosira knew why – she had feelings for Thor, who chose to give his love to a mortal from Midgard. A mortal with no powers and a very short lifespan, even though she was highly intelligent_. I shouldn't judge_, Ljosira thought._ I am bonded to a mortal who brings war, conflict and mischief wherever he steps… _

"Maybe you should suggest doing something together that he likes. That usually does the trick.", Fandral mused, leaning against a low tree with hanging branches.

"Fandral, it is not that I don't spend time with him that way. We fight together, we feast together…", Sif answered in an impatient voice. Her companion sighed as if she should know better.

"Mylady Sif, what I mean to say is… Alone, just the two of you. Maybe… ride out into the fields and hunt for a whole day…", he proposed a little more clearly. They walked on with their steps crunching the pebble-strewn path, their voices fading away.

"He disappears each night… He pretends to enjoy himself but in truth he is a caged animal. Let it go, Fandral…", was the last thing Ljosira heard Sif say before they were out of earshot. Thor couldn't leave Asgard with the Bifröst destroyed and there was still an uprising in Vanaheim he had to take care of soon enough. But he seemed to be growing restless, that even his companions had started to worry.

Ljosira raised her gaze to the sky, feeling a strange kind of foreboding. The veils between the worlds grew thin and she could sense a menacing shadow that lurked between them. The Convergence was a joyful event for her people – a royal child celebrated their rite of passage and Yggdrasil surged with the energy of the Nine Realms lined up in perfect unison.

But for some reason, Ljosira wasn't joyful at all. A cloud passed through Asgard's sun and the sky darkened, leaving her shivering from the cold chill. She reprimanded herself for such gloomy thoughts. The pressure of Loki's trial made her paint everything black, she assumed. At least eavesdropping on Sif and Fandral had given her an idea how she might win his trust… Gathering her robes, she rose from her sitting bench and took off to the palace.


	5. The Antlers that haul Moon and Sun

Loki's quarters were, of course, deserted. Nobody came here anymore, Ljosira reckoned, since for Thor it meant pain and anger, for Frigga sorrow, and for the Allfather… well, he was hard to read, even as a dragon. In the light of day, the study was much brighter, with the warm sun flooding his desk and the vast bookshelves.

Funny little specks of dust danced around the dozens of artefacts and Ljosira enjoyed striding through the room, reading the rune-covered spines of countless books. To her surprise, his touch lingered on each of them, which was impressive. There had to be thousands of books in here, and he has read every single one, although most of them a long time ago.

She flipped through the pages of a book about dragons and found the legends so intriguing and amusing that she decided to borrow it. This time, Ljosira didn't have to be embarrassed because she examined everything closely, she was free to marvel at a delicately shaped glass hand holding a deep red, jagged crystal. Or the statue of a bird – she thought it was a peacock – with brilliant plumage that shimmered in too many colors to even name.

When her eyes fell on Loki's bedroom door, she froze. Today, she was completely on her own in his chambers. Would it really hurt to take a look? Before she knew it, she was an inch away from the door, her hand hovering over the knob. For some reason she looked around one last time, as though to make sure nobody saw this invasion of privacy – which it surely was. Assured that she was alone, Ljosira pressed down the handle and stepped into the room.

It was only half as wide as the study, but not less impressive. The bed, a four-poster like her own, stood against the right wall on a raised dais and outmatched even hers in size. Its emerald green gauze curtains depicted a deep, enchanted forest where nymphs bathed in a clear pond, accompanied by a peacefully drinking stag. Ljosira walked around it – the other side showed a darker image: Great wolf-like beasts stalked a herd of slender-legged deer.

The framework was made from the same ebon wood as his desk, lacquered and carved with great detail. A long sun shaft fell through one half of the room from the balcony, the other – where the bed stood – was kept in shadows by heavy velvet curtains. Ljosira stepped closer and saw the mess of sheets, furs and pillows, tangled as though they had been fought with. Even though the senses of her mortal form were greatly dulled, she could clearly make out his scent. It smelled like a mixture of fresh parchment, the powder used for some enchantments, the forest after rain… and something unique she couldn't name. She found herself inhaling deeply, remembering a faint trace of the same scent when she had been pressed against Loki for a brief moment so many years ago. Compared to that fleeting thing, his scent was almost heavy in here. And strangely intoxicating. Ljosira's gaze fell onto the nightstand. Next to an elegant lamp – of course he read at night – lay a tome bound in wine-red leather.

"_The Antlers that haul Moon and Sun_", she read absent-mindedly. And in the sub-title, "_Fables and Riddles of Old_" The book was fresh with his presence, but she could feel that Loki has read it many times before the most recent one. This was his favourite. She picked it up and placed it atop the dragon myths.

Not wanting to leave, she breathed his scent in and traced the embroidery on the gauze curtains with her fingers. It was soft to the touch, and she felt closer to him than she had during their argument in the prison, where they had been only inches apart. In this room, Loki couldn't hide from her. Insult her to keep her out. Maintain cold and distance as he did to everyone. Ljosira sighed, knowing she couldn't stay forever.

When she turned around, the two books tumbled to the ground with a thud and she was startled so much she stumbled backwards onto the bed. Thor was standing in the doorway, eyeing her with a strange expression.

"I apologize for scaring you. You looked peaceful and absorbed, it seemed unwise to disturb.", he instantly said and stepped forward to pick up the books she had dropped.

"Never before has someone sneaked up on me.", Ljosira managed to say in a weak voice.

"Even dragons can forget all around them when they are in deep thought.", the crown prince said with a smile. He paused when his gaze fell upon the red leather book.

"I know this book. Mother used to read it to us all the time. Where did you find it?" He sounded surprised, almost wondrous.

"On your brother's nightstand.", Ljosira answered as Thor handed her the tomes carefully. They were on eye-level because she was still sitting on Loki's bed, but Thor lowered his head slightly, looking regretful all of a sudden.

"Seeing this recalls memories of unburdened times.", he sighed. There was a pleading wish in his eyes. "Why does my brother hate me so much, Ljosira?" Dark chains of hurt were slung heavily around his aura full of pride, a warrior who did not understand why he had lost a battle. Lost a brother. Ljosira wanted to reach out and free him from these chains, but that was a power even she didn't have. There were some things in this world which couldn't be solved by light alone.

"Because… he is utterly convinced that he can never live up to your image.", she answered slowly.

"But why does he not understand how ridiculous that delusion is?", Thor retorted. Ljosira shook her head.

"Loki does not see you the way you see yourself, or the way I see you. He sees all the things that singled you out.", she pointed a finger at Mjölnir, then up to his brow, where a beautiful crown of golden leaves weaved from her magic, and he heard the voices of his friends and companions, his father and mother, all cheering and loving.

"We all make choices where the easy way is not the right one. Your brother chose wrong, but convenient for him – to build walls of rejection toward you, because he could not face the conflict between love and jealousy. He pushed it up here.", she indicated Thor's head, "Which seemed wise to a man of reason. But all the while he should have resolved it here.", and then her finger moved to point at his heart. Thor looked at her perfect white hand for a moment, taking in her words.

"Can it ever be mended? Can he?", he asked quietly.

"A bond between brothers is among the strongest in our universe. Why else do you still feel pain when you think about him? Why else would you wish to reminisce about unburdened times? Your bond has suffered battering, and slashing, and ripping. Yet still you hope, do you not?", she explained, smiling. The crown prince returned the gesture and straightened.

"Though you have a remarkable gift for not answering questions directly, your answers never fail to give comfort. You are certainly not a child." Before they left the room, he gave her the same, strange look that was on his face when she had spotted him. It was oddly close to bafflement.

He didn't ask why she was in Loki's bedroom, although it must have seemed very weird, now that she thought about it. Actually, even she questioned the motives for her behaviour…

Thor muttered an apology and left her alone on the landing site, headed into the direction of the Bifröst. With delight, she saw that she was getting used to flying a sky-striker. Just as she was about to step in front of the barrier, she heard Loki's angry voice. It made her slip into a shadowy niche.

"He's _not my father!_", it wasn't a full yell, as though he was trying to contain himself. Then his counterpart spoke. It was the queen.

"Then am I not your mother?", she said with open hurt. There was a moment of silence, before Loki sighed, a heavy sound, yet his next words were exceedingly gentle.

"You are not.", he said. Something about the love in his voice made Ljosira peek around the corner to see his face. He looked regretful and beaten, his emerald eyes trained on his mother's figure standing inside his cell. She took a step towards him, shaking her head sadly.

"Always so perceptive… about everyone but yourself." Loki's expression softened and he moved closer, but when he tried to take her hand into his, the illusion started to dissolve. And Frigga vanished, leaving Loki with his head hung and his eyes closed, deep creases on his smooth brow.

Ljosira waited for a reasonable amount of time until she stepped forward. At her sight, he seemed to compose himself, but a little softness lingered on his features.

"You keep returning here.", he noted.

"And you keep sounding surprised.", she said, tilting her head slightly. A genuine smile spread across his lips, probably the first one she had ever seen that wasn't mocking or sarcastic in any way.

"This has not been a particularly cheerful day until now. Apart from the guards… I don't get much _real_ company." The way he put emphasis on the word 'real' told her he was referring to his mother.

Ljosira shuffled on her feet. For some reason, she was embarrassed in his presence since she had been in his bedroom. What was wrong with her? Loki came a little closer when she didn't answer. A slight pink hue was on her pale cheeks and once again, the robes weren't completely in order. His gaze fell onto the two books clutched in her arms.

"Did you bring those for me?", he asked, even more surprised. Only his mother had sent him anything at all since he was in prison, and she didn't bring them herself. She was forbidden to see him. But beside her, nobody visited him or showed him anything but reproach.

"Oh, right… Right.", Ljosira said as though awakened from a dream. "Guards!", she called, making one of the patrolling men walk over to her. Loki watched as he bowed deeply, looking somewhat tense.

"How may I help you, mylady?", he asked, clearly uncomfortable with her ancient grey eyes watching him.

"I wish to enter the cell.", she simply said. The guard's brow furrowed and he cleared his throat.

"With all due respect…", he seemed to fumble for the right title to address her, "… wise one. It is not safe. The Allfather has ordered further… evaluation of the prisoner for your own safety…" Loki almost burst out in laughter at the way the guard's eyes widened when Ljosira straightened to her full height. It looked so completely out of place. She was tiny.

"The Allfather", she began in a very strict voice, "trusts my judgement. Now would you please have the courtesy to let me in." There was an authority in her formal tone that made the guard shiver, but he still hesitated.

"Yesterday, he threw all the furniture of his cell at you…", he tried to reason. Loki huffed exasperatedly.

"For Valhalla's sake, just let her in. I could throw piles of desks and chairs at her, they would bounce off. Menial things like that cannot hurt her. Besides, do you really think me such a deranged creature?", he snapped. The guard gave him a look as though he was something disgusting stuck on the sole of a boot.

"Should not have asked.", Loki said angrily. But was the guard not right? He had thrown things at her. Well, at the barrier, to be correct. He wanted to scare her, so she would not look at him with that agitating compassion.

But could he really, truly harm her if they stood face to face? Something he wasn't able to define told him he couldn't. Ljosira gave the guard a thorough look and whispered something to him. The man sighed and moved to the cell door, a rune-clustered shield of energy.

The next Loki knew, Ljosira was standing in his cell, not clouded by the shiny barrier, only a few steps away. She was just as beautiful as he remembered her and his heart struggled to maintain a steady beat.


	6. Game of Truth

_Author's Note: Yiss, we're getting somewhere. Time for a little teaser! :) Thank you for the favs and follows and the other review, it really urges me on /o/ _

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"I have almost forgotten how small you are.", he said, cursing himself for sounding oddly breathless.

"I am bigger in person.", she said with a slight smile, her grey eyes passing over his form with care. A flicker of light flashed across her iris. Loki's aura was still not easy to read, many conflicting emotions were intertwined in countless rainbow knots. She saw a dark shadow pulsing, but right now it was tied down by heavy restriction and self-control. There was sadness, surely for his mother. Reproach, probably for his brother and father. And around his heart, a thin, bright thread swirled like a pristine serpent. Was he… happy to see her?

"That, I believe without a second guess.", Loki mused quietly. He noticed her gaze and seemed to understand its purpose. "Now that there is no magic to interfere with your sight… What do you see?", he asked with genuine interest. She would say something like hatred, lies, doubt… Of course she would. That had to be what she sees.

"I wish I could show you." He stared at her in wonder. "Too many things to put into words.", Ljosira said, blinking a few times. Of all the things he expected, her answer hadn't been one of them. She held out the leather-bound tome to him. His eyebrows went up when he took it from her hand.

"The Antlers that haul Moon and Sun.", he mumbled. "This… is my favourite book. I should expect nothing less from your keen eyesight." This was probably the closest thing to gratitude he could muster and Ljosira blinked again, this time from amazement. Loki's eyes flickered to hers. Up close she was able to see the tint of blue in his green iris, like soft moss covering a smooth rock. A strange smile was on his lips.

"I left this in my bedroom… Either my mother gave it to you, or… You have been there yourself.", he mused. Ljosira cleared her throat.

"It helps my task to look at personal belongings." Well, it wasn't a lie, but it was bending the truth rather freely. Loki was still smiling.

"Would you like to play a game?", he asked and moved to sit down in one of the chairs in his cell. She inclined her head, which made her look like a curious bird.

"What kind of game?" Loki indicated for her to take a seat across him at the small table.

"Well, do you by chance know any riddles?" She raised her eyebrows.

"I know a few, yes.", she answered. Loki looked almost delighted.

"This is a game of wits and cunning. I am going to pose you a riddle. If you can solve it, I shall answer a question that you have for me truthfully. Then, we switch roles and you tell me a riddle, and so on.", he explained.

"Then you shall start.", Ljosira said.

"_We hurt without moving, we poison without touching, we bear the truth and the lies, we are not judged by our size. What are we?_", Loki proposed. She looked thoughtful for a moment, but answered quickly.

"An easy one as a start, yes? The answer is: Words.", when he nodded, she went on to ask her question, "Why did you really join with the Chitauri forces?"

"I thought you might ask. Because I had no other choice. It was either that, or death. And the only reason I still live is that they knew I could open a portal to Midgard. How was I supposed to go back to Asgard after what happened? Ruling Midgard seemed like a good purpose.", he mused. His eyes, full of aptitude, were trained on her face with a serious expression. When she turned her head to the barrier and looked into the distance, Loki caught himself tracing the line of her neck with his gaze, a slender arc with a slight ridge that disappeared beneath her collarbone.

"Do you truly understand the burden of ruling, Loki?", she said without looking at him. It was the first time she had addressed him with his name, and her singsong intonation made it sound oddly gentle.

"Evidently, I understand the rules of this game. Only one question at the time, ancient one. Your turn, now.", he retorted, his smile mischievous.

"Alright then. _You struggle to regain me, when I am lost, you struggle to obtain me. I pass no matter your will, but I am your slave to kill. What am I?_", she posed her riddle.

"Ah, a good one! The answer is, of course: Time.", Loki solved it without effort and when Ljosira took another peek at his aura, she saw that he was having fun. What a strange turn of events. "So… why where you really in my bedroom?" She craned her neck and huffed.

"I am no mortal, but that does not mean I am above curiosity.", she then said with a slight smile.

And from there on, Ljosira came to visit him almost every day. Their game of riddles was a way to ask each other questions in the beginning, although with time, they would forget the rules and have a discussion completely free from these boundaries. Loki got to know the immortal dragon who was his advocate. He learned how she was the youngest of a plentiful royal family, and an only sister among brothers, grown up in their protective company and never truly allowed to be free. How she loved Asgard and has watched over it with keen eyes, hoping to one day be named Great Protector over this branch of Yggdrasil.

But these imposing subjects were almost less interesting than all the little things he came to know about her. The way she craned her neck, an utterly draconic gesture that mortals did not use. Her lithe hands as they moved over a book's pages or to fiddle with a fold of her robes. How she seemed fascinated by menial things – like the stitching on a tablecloth, but could create such complicated magic which he would never have dreamed of mastering.

And how, sometimes, in rare moments, she eyed him with odd little looks he couldn't place. Loki would read a passage from a book with her, and she would enact a scene with magic. It was nothing like his illusions, not as real, but ethereal and imaginary.

What frightened him was they way he started to look forward to her appearing at the barrier, and he caught himself glancing over to it frequently when she was late. On the days where she didn't visit him – though those were rare – he became moody and felt oddly agitated.

One day Ljosira entered while he was reading intently, and when he looked up, he yelped down a laugh. She wore a complicated arrangement of clothes she had tied together so completely wrong. It seemed she had no understanding whatsoever about how to get dressed properly.

"Why are you laughing?", she asked sharply. Loki tried to compose himself, clearing his throat audibly.

"You seem to be oblivious to the way clothes work. Why is it they always look so strange on you?", he answered, pointing at a hastily tied knot below her shoulder. Her cheeks went pink.

"No maid, noblewoman or even the queen would help me to get dressed, as they could accidentally touch me in the process. How am I supposed to know how to arrange these things on my own, when I never wore clothes as a dragon?", she said, frustrated. But Loki was looking at her, shocked. A realization visibly crept unto his face and his eyes widened.

"The unspoken rule not to touch a young dragon.", he stated in a weak voice. "I have broken it." She merely stared at him. Now the damage was done – he would have found out anyway, as he would have remembered the rule sooner or later.

"Yes, you did.", Ljosira confirmed. Loki's brow furrowed.

"Why didn't I die? The unrestrained magic should have created an explosion…", but she cut him off with a snort.

"What is it with you mortals and explosions? Does everything have to be destructive with you?" He stood up and prowled the room, befuddled.

"But why is it forbidden if nothing bad happens?", he asked, uncomprehending. And with a great sigh, Ljosira explained him about the creation of life-bonds between dragons, of their partial reciprocity and protective nature, and how they are not allowed to be forged between mortals and dragons, unless in exceptional cases, as with Heimdall. Loki listened with amazement.

"But… I don't feel anything.", he said after she had finished.

"You are not a dragon. You perceive the life-bond differently, much more subtly.", Ljosira answered a little insulted. His deep, green eyes lingered on hers.

"And how do you perceive it?", he asked in a quiet voice. To his surprise, she smiled almost mysteriously.

"I wish I could show you.", she spoke the same words from weeks ago, when she had first seen his aura with her dragon sight.

"Why was I not punished?", Loki wondered.

"Because for one, you saved me from falling. And secondly, you had no knowledge of my true identity. My father was angry, but he is not unreasonable.", she explained, shrugging. Loki hung his head, thinking for a long moment. Then he lifted his gaze.

"That means… If I happen to touch you now…", he began and looked at her, a question in his intelligent eyes.

"It would not make any difference.", Ljosira responded, tilting her head. And before she knew what was happening, he had crossed the room and was behind her. She opened her mouth to protest when he untied one of the knots of cloth between her shoulder blades.

"You cannot tie it like this… But you wouldn't know… Even you can't see behind your back." His voice was soft and quiet as he redid her awful work with skilful hands. Standing completely still, afraid that if she moved the strange moment would end, Ljosira was overly aware of his fingers sliding across the folds of silk and she realized that she was holding her breath. When she exhaled, his scent filled her nose.

Loki felt her body shiver almost imperceptibly when his hand brushed across the bare skin of her back during his efforts, and even this slightest touch left his fingers tingling as tough he had touched something under voltage. Or something on fire. He took a breath to calm the slight tremble, fought the urge to run his whole hand along the unnaturally straight nick that marked her spine, and hoped Ljosira needed direct eye contact to read auras.

For his was probably full of thoughts he definitely didn't want her to notice. Since Loki was much taller than her, he had no effort to reach the knot over her collarbone from behind her back. Ljosira was sure her heart was so fierce against her chest it would be visibly discernible. Even though he barely touched her, she could feel the light pressure of his arms at her shoulders, even the muscles at work as he redid the tie, his chest heaving against her back. His face was bent down next to her head, his deep breaths stroking over her cheek as he concentrated his eyes on what he was doing. She'd never experienced such a strangely intimate moment.

Seeing the way his fingers moved delicately sent small chills down her spine.

"I hope you are watching… so you won't have problems in the future…", Loki's voice sounded deeper than usual. She merely nodded, and he wished more than wishing for his father's approval that he could see one tiny piece of her thoughts right now. Finished with his work, he retreated reluctantly and the magic of the moment was gone.

That was the day Loki started to have more frequent visits from the dragon lady in his thoughts and during his sleep. Not inexperienced, he'd been with quite a few women before. But this was different somehow. In the past, he had always managed to keep a cold distance to these women and they mostly served for his pleasure. With growing unease he realized how that sort of behaviour was impossible with Ljosira, and that a part of him actually didn't even want to act like that.

He was no stranger to physical attraction, only this was not it. This felt more like a small spark born between them, growing slowly until it would set him on fire. She had such a deep magic inside of her, a wondrous thing that seemed to be sensible on her very skin. Some nights, he woke from dreams of touching her, feeling her against his body, and he wanted to curse at the sense of loss that filled him afterwards. It felt like an aching need, and he wondered if this was one of the 'subtle' ways the life-bond showed. Loki didn't know what to think about it, neither did he know how exactly it affected him. It had been there for so long now... Although it was very convenient to explain these feelings through the bond, only he didn't exactly know where it ended and his own thoughts began.

Some things made more sense, after all. The jolt he had felt on the balcony so many years ago, when he had touched her. The way he was instinctively sure he could trust her, and that he wouldn't be able to hurt her. But…

Other nights, the images in his dreams were much less innocent, and on those he shot up in his bed, breathless, drenched in sweat and with a strong, pulling tension in his loins. He was _pretty _sure that had nothing to do with the bond.

What the hell was wrong with him? He couldn't feel attracted to a dragon, for a thousand reasons. If there was a rule against mortals even touching them, they would surely eviscerate anyone who… defiled their mortal forms. Disrespect didn't just anger them, it called forth divine ire that was capable of burning cities to a pile of ashes. And so Loki struggled to keep whatever he was feeling shut behind closed doors. If it only was that easy!

What he didn't know was that the dragon princess was just as confused as him. On the day he'd rearranged her clothes, Ljosira had sat in front of the mirror in her quarters, tracing the ribbon-like knot he'd tied absent-mindedly. She, too, was starting to ask herself where the borders of the bond's protective nature lay and if here feelings were beyond, or inside this boundary – and that was frightening, because she sensed it much more distinctly. Maybe she was beginning to understand the reason why the creation of a life-bond was forbidden between dragons and humans – for if it could spawn something neither would comprehend… Well, even dragons feared the unknown.


	7. The Dark Days

_Author's Note: Right, now we embark on the events of the Dark World and we learn how even the dragon's history is not clean of war and strife. I hope you don't find the scenes that have no direct connection to the events in the story not too short or hastily told. Most of the happenings of the movie are kept intact, and you know those after all. Let's say we keep our eyes more on Ljosira and Loki's story - after all, those two have a problem of their own to solve... _

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She was glad when Thor's victorious return from Vanaheim and the celebrations to honor him bringing peace to the Nine Realms after Loki's war-stirring posed a distraction from her conflicting thoughts about that trickster. She had just come back from a reading session with him – and had earned a reproachful, accusing look for leaving him alone to attend a feast, especially one held for his brother – when she noticed the palace maids had laid out her ceremonial robe, draped onto a stand.

It as unlike any dress she had ever seen. The sun-colored, brocade cloth was embroidered with several lifelike peacocks in flight, their beautiful tail plumage creating the topmost layer by being lifted and formed into a flouncy fold. Pearls and tiniest emeralds were stitched into the feathers to create a twinkling resonance when light flickered across them. The lower layers, visible below the beautiful motif, faded from the warm yellow into white the further down they went. The sleeves were so long they almost touched the ground and adorned with a subtle pattern of flowers. Ljosira gaped at the dress in astonishment.

"Do you like it?", the queen's voice came from behind her. Frigga was standing in the doorway, smiling at her. She wore a dove-blue robe that brought out her gentle, motherly features. "I had it made for you, and I have to say – the royal tailor outdid himself this time." The queen stepped into the room and closed the door. "Go on, try it on!" And so Ljosira did. When she slipped into the dress behind the folding screen, she noticed the many laces and ties criss-crossing at the back, but that seemed to be the only thing holding the dress in place. Frigga was in no danger of touching her skin when she fastened them at the small of her back, and she stepped up to the mirror. Her reflection wasn't just beautiful. It looked as though she was dressed with the sun.

Loki, who watched his mother's perfect, illusionary copy of Ljosira standing in his cell, thought just the same thing. But it was the wonder in her eyes, the everlasting awe about such utterly mortal things as clothes, that made him sure playing a role in the choice of fabric had been the right decision.

His mother had eyed him with an odd kind of benevolent suspicion when they'd talked about it during one of her visits, and it had baffled her even more that he wasn't eager for Ljosira to know about his involvement. When he'd picked the fabric, her illusion would disappear with a look on her face as though she'd just seen a goat stand up on two legs and recite poetry to her.

Ljosira enjoyed the feast and was showered with compliments about her dress, especially by Fandral, the flirtatious and windy warrior and one of Thor's closest friends. Yet everyone always kept respectful distance to her, for most of them knew who she was and didn't dare to get too close.

Thor, whom she hadn't seen for a while now, was dressed very modestly for a crown prince, and all night his mind seemed to be elsewhere. He smiled at jokes, ate from each of the abundant plates the maids brought, accepted toasts and praise, but his face always had a slightly absent expression, as though something was amiss. Strangely enough, Ljosira could sympathize. Deep into the night, Thor rose and excused himself, and she decided to follow him, because she knew he was going to visit Heimdall.

When he stopped to have a brief conversation with Sif on the balcony, she slid behind a pillar and waited until they finished talking. She couldn't help but notice the hurt and disappointment in the proud warrior's face as Thor left her behind. It was probably the heaviest burden to bear, a love that is unrequited. Ljosira caught up to the prince and walked by his side – he instantly slowed his pace to match her smaller steps.

"Would it be insolent if I accompanied you?", she asked him. Thor smiled at her with brotherly care, and not for the first time Ljosira wondered how Loki had so severely misunderstood him. But then she remembered that this side of the thunder prince had surfaced truly only recently as well as being something that probably wasn't shown to everyone.

"Well, you look like a goddess of the sun today, ancient one. Who am I to deny a goddess my company?", he answered with a smile. She returned the gesture.

"You are very kind, but you do know that I can see through a lie, even if it is a good-natured one. I see only one woman on your mind, and it is not the one dressed with the sun.", Ljosira mused as they left the castle to take flight in a sky-striker, headed for Heimdall's observatory.

"Would you scold me too, for fancying a mortal woman whose life is but the blink of an eye?", he inquired, sounding weary.

"My father once said love is probably the only thing even we dragons can never fully comprehend. It is the most complicated aura to read, least explainable by reason, and too powerful to be judged.", she answered thoughtfully. Thor looked at her with gratitude in his blue eyes.

"You are late.", Heimdall noted when they stepped into his observatory. The gleaming, clockwork-like dome had a marvellous view. Ljosira could see Yggdrasil's branches like great bands of stars spread out on a beautiful, black blanket. She took her time to let her gaze wander along each of them, seeing the world's slowly shift in anticipation of the Convergence.

"And you brought the Dragon Princess. It is an honor, ancient one.", Heimdall addressed her respectfully. "As the worlds align for the Convergence, Yggdrasil's branches paint a constellation into the sky, telling the story of your gentle heart. The King of Dragons awaits his youngest daughter's passing into adulthood, and what a marvel it is, seeing the world tree in such bloom." Ljosira went slightly pink at his words.

"Thank you, wise Gatekeeper.", she replied with a bow. While Heimdall and Thor talked, she gazed back at Yggdrasil, and like on her first day in Asgard, she sensed a menacing shadow, an unnamed threat that sent shivers down her spine.

"I can't see her.", Heimdall suddenly said. Thor looked anxious, and Ljosira could feel something stirring far away, a strange, body-less energy that came to life with sinister purpose.

"Something is not right.", she said, more talking to herself than to any of them.

"Open the Bifröst, I will take a look. Grant me passage, Heimdall.", Thor said without hesitation.

"Thor!", Ljosira said when the dome shifted and the prince stepped to the gate. "Something that slips dragon eyes cannot be good. Be careful."

He was gone for not more than ten minutes and at his return, he was carrying a strangely-dressed, dark-haired mortal woman whose eyes were wide with shock and wonder. Heimdall and Ljosira stared at her. Midgardians had very defined auras, easy to read but also rich with emotion. This one's was equally frightened and awestruck… and very glad about being in Thor's arms. But a dark, liquid shadow seemed to leech from her life force and Ljosira almost recoiled.

"Welcome to Asgard.", Heimdall said neutrally.

"Jane, this is Heimdall, the Gatekeeper and watchful eye of the Bifröst.", Thor introduced with an unknown cheer in his voice. "And this… is someone even I have to bow my head to.", he indicated Ljosira. "A guardian of Yggdrasil, she is a dragon here to evaluate my brother for trial." The woman named Jane swallowed at the sight of her impressive dress.

"Your brother… Loki? Wait, did you just say dragon?", she then realized and gaped. Suddenly, she looked as though in pain, her legs weakened and Thor had to hold her straight.

"She needs a healer.", Ljosira said as they heaved Jane into the sky-striker. Her hand hovered over the human's body and a fine powder of light showered from her palm. Thor glanced over to her frequently, his brow creased in worry.

"What do you see?", he asked, but Ljosira shook her head.

"Something… very strange. Massive amounts of energy, greater than even in dragons." But she didn't dare to tell him how such an energy would slowly disintegrate her mortal body, rip apart the very fabric of her being.

Jane was brought to the healers, where she was thoroughly examined, but they weren't any the wiser until Odin turned up, furious about Thor bringing a mortal to Asgard – for Midgardians lives were fleeting in their eyes. The Allfather ordered her to be taken away, but when the guards tried to touch her, Jane erupted in a blast of dark energy that staggered even Ljosira.

After this, they all knew something was horribly wrong. Ljosira, Thor and Jane followed him into the great palace library – it had a beautiful magical model of Yggdrasil in its midst – and he flipped open a book. While the Allfather told them the story of the Dark Elves and the Time of Darkness, Ljosira's heart sank. Her people had had a hand that war, too.

"Their leader, Malekith, made a weapon out of the eternal darkness and called it the Ether. It is fluid and everchanging, seeks out host bodies and draws strength from their life-force. Malekith sought to use the Ether's power, to return the universe to one… of darkness.", he read, turning the pages.

"With respect, Allfather, but history has left a few things out. Malekith did not create the Ether alone – such a powerful artefact with alterable form needs one of the most potent catalysts in our universe: The blood of a Dragon King.", Ljosira said darkly. Odin nodded, looking thoughtful.

"You are a fine lorekeeper, Ljosira. Before your father ascended as the dragon king, he united the clans and fought a bitter war upon Yggdrasil's crown against the former king, a Darkflight dragon named Myrkr. Myrkr had given his blood to Malekith – therefore creating the Ether. Elding supported my father Bor in these times of bloodshed, and after many years of strife, they brought about peace that would last thousands of years.", Odin continued the story.

"What happened?", Jane asked and the Allfather turned his one eye to her.

"He killed them all. Myrkr was slain by Elding, and Malekith, who knew he was at the edge of defeat, ushered a mass suicide of his own people to bring down Asgard's army."

"The Darkflight… only ever had reluctant acceptance among our clans. They thrive in darkness, for such is their nature. That is why they guard the darkest parts of space, as they did with the Chitauri quarantine. They are our negatives, and the only ones who can cloud our sight.", Ljosira said. She felt a sudden headache rise up in her temple, a sharp sting that made her teeth clench and her vision blurry.

"Excuse me… the closeness to the Ether…", but her words trailed away. Odin looked very serious.

"I shall escort you.", he said, leading Ljosira out of the room. As they walked through the palace halls, Odin spoke in a toneless voice.

"This is a very dangerous situation for you, Ljosira. I am afraid it is unwise to remain in Asgard as long as the Ether dwells here too." But she shook her head.

"No, Allfather… Please, I'll be fine. I just need a little rest.", she assured him. In front of her chamber doors, Odin stopped and gave her a long, thorough look.

"Very well.", he said.


	8. Loss

_Author's Note: Thank you for your nice reviews, everyone! I'm really happy you like it so far. This next chapter is a little short, but moving nevertheless. I hope when you read it, you remember the scene from The Dark World, which I found very beautiful... _

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Ljosira woke from a nightmare of all-enveloping darkness to the shuffling of hurried feet and the clanking of armor. For a moment, she had no idea where she was, until she remembered falling asleep after fleeing the Ether, completely exhausted, as though all strength had been drained from her body. With a deep breath, she gathered her senses and stopped short.

Something was terribly amiss. Where the bond she felt with Loki should have ended with his presence, a dark shadow obscured him from her sight and she panicked at once. Still wearing her festival dress, she tore open the door to find guards running along the corridors. Frigga and Jane came hurrying towards her, the queen with a short sword in her hand. Jane's aura was frightened, while Frigga had a fierce determination in hers.

"Ljosira. There has been a prison break. You need to stay in your chambers, please. It is nothing to worry about, really." She only stopped for a moment before taking Jane into the direction of her quarters. Completely ignoring what the queen had said, Ljosira bolted after them, when another jolt of pain in her head made her stagger. Frigga caught a glimpse of her and turned around hastily.

"It is the Ether, isn't it?", she said, not daring to touch the dragon princess. Jane, who looked apologetic to the point of desperation, tried to move closer, but the queen put a hand up.

"It's not your fault, my dear, but you cannot be near her.", she said with steel in her voice. Ljosira rubbed her temple and tried to shut out the searing pain, but it felt as though a formless, dark hand was sinking its claws right into her brain. Still, she straightened.

"I want to help… I can manage.", she said. But besides the Ether, there was a much greater fear in her now, one as old as life itself. The life-bond was still obscured and this blindness was driving her crazy. She wasn't used to being blind – she was used to sensing him at all times, however far away. Frigga leaned down, her gentle eyes serious and stern.

"No, ancient one. This is too dangerous for you. Leave this one to me.", she turned around and gripped Jane's arm. With a thin smile, she said, "Who do you think taught Loki all the tricks?"

As soon as they were gone, the headache faded away like melting ice and Ljosira felt her strength return. But the shadow that clouded her sight was still there, and it was expanding.

"Loki.", she whispered. And without a second guess she was off into the opposite direction. Because a life-bond in danger cannot be ignored. She didn't take the usual route to the landing site – the sounds of fighting and screams speaking a very clear language. In the weeks she had visited Loki, he had taught her secret passages out of the castle which she was now very thankful for. The one she chose led to the lowest level and into the city.

The city itself was alive with frightened people, and when Ljosira stepped out of the palace's shadow, she saw why. A giant spaceship, formed like a spear's tip, loomed over Asgard, ready to pierce its very heart. The Dark Elves had come to take back the Ether. Signs of destruction littered the streets, debris was scattered between the neatly built houses and frantic screams filled the air. The booming of cannons seemed to come from everywhere, ringing in her ears like an overly large alarm bell. All her thoughts converged on Loki, on the shroud of darkness obscuring him, on how she had to get to him _right now_.

So much that she missed the real danger, and just as she flew down the stairs to reach a sky-striker somewhere, anywhere, she felt it.

A shriek of pure agony ran through her great, gentle heart, and though it was not physical but purely ethereal, it made her feet stagger. Ljosira gripped a hand to her chest, for there was it that she felt, between all the other fading auras, one pristine spark of life get snuffed out. Where before had been motherly warmth, fierce and brave and protective to the end, there was now only the cold nothingness of death.

Frigga. The darkness faded, was lifted from her eyes as though pulling off a blindfold and when she sensed Loki again, unharmed, she realized that he hadn't been in danger. That she had, once again, made a terrible mistake.

_I should have stayed. I should have endured the Ether, even if it hurt, even if it weakened me. I should have…_ And now his mother was dead. Gone. The sky lit up with such wrathful thunder that it made the very air quiver and Ljosira saw Mjölnir fly, the avenging hammer forged in a dying star's heart, tempered with her father's fire, but helpless to stop the Dark Elves' ship from vanishing. Before she returned into the palace, a single one of her dragon tears fell to Asgard's ground, a precious sign of mourning that was shed unnoticed by any of its inhabitants.

And so the beautiful dress of the sun was changed to a dark grey funeral gown, the cheerful festivities were replaced by a traditional burial ceremony. Ljosira watched the queen pass over the mighty waterfalls at the world's edge. Her boat flew into the void and her body turned into a thousand specks of light, painting a new, beautiful constellation into the night sky. It was stunning, sad magic. But Ljosira knew that with Frigga, a part of the Allfather had also died forever. She couldn't bear the look on his and Thor's faces, nor the auras of heavy sorrow that seemed to surround her like a blanket.

After the ceremony, she headed straight to the prison, avoiding eye-contact to anyone around her. The state of Loki's cell made her stop short.

It was pandemonium. Desk and chairs lay crashed and battered, books had been thrown around carelessly, their pages ripped out. Torn pieces of tablecloth littered the ground, and there were shards of glass and china everywhere, some splattered with rich red. Loki didn't even seem to notice her, he just sat at the side of his cell with his head leaned against the wall, deaf to the world. His usually well-groomed, raven-black hair fell in tangled strands to his face. A small pool of blood had formed around one of his idle hands on the floor. He'd cut himself on the glass shards in his tantrum. A guard – a different one than in the weeks before, she noticed bitterly – approached her.

"Open the door.", Ljosira said curtly. Her voice was sharp as a knife.

"Mylady, he is beyond reason! A maniac –", the guard began, but he shouldn't have.

"Open the door, _NOW!_", she yelled with such bloodcurdling rage, even Loki flinched from his stupor. A dozen lamps lining the walls burst apart, the barriers around her flickered feebly, and the guard backed off, his eyes wide with fear at the menace in her expression. He hurried to Loki's cell door and let Ljosira enter without another word.

She didn't spare him a second glance, instead walked over to Loki and sank to her knees beside him. Without hesitation, her hand slid beneath his and she lifted it to examine the wound. He didn't resist, merely glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was paler than usual, stirring a small voice of concern in his numb, mourning heart. Dark shadows were beneath her eyes and the light that always seemed to surround her was duller. He was afraid she would simply fade away and vanish into nothingness.

"You fool… You should have at least pulled the shards out…", she whispered softly. All the steel in her voice from before was gone. Like someone picking up a newborn bird, she gingerly pulled the glass from the dozen cuts on his palm and lower arm. Then she cleaned the wounds with clear water and a fold of her mourning gown. And after that, Ljosira healed him.

She moved her free hand over his, along his arm and back again, showering his skin with the finest dots of light. Loki felt the magic seep into the cuts as its warm tingling eased the pain and closed the shreds of skin, until it was left smooth and unscathed. When she was finished and about to move her hand away, his fingers closed around hers so urgently, she doubted he would ever let go again. It felt soft but cool, lacking any warmth as though the hearth had gone out on a cold winter's night. Leaving him shivering and utterly alone.

He lifted his deep, green eyes to hers, and there was such earnest sadness in them that Ljosira acted without thinking. She disentangled her hand and leaned forward, embracing him. Her head settled against his chest and she felt the gasp of surprise rise in it, followed by a great sigh of relief. All her heart was in this gesture of tenderness, this simple wish to comfort him. Almost instantly Loki pulled her onto his lap and cradled her in his arms, feeling as though he was holding a flickering, tiny flame, the only source of warmth in a world filled with darkness.

A small eternity passed, before Ljosira spoke.

"I'm sorry… I saw too late. I should have…", but he interrupted her.

"No.", he said quietly. There was long moment of silence. "Even I understand what such enveloping darkness does to light.", Loki whispered. Ljosira wanted to explain to him more, wanted him to truly understand the reasons, but no words came.

"Did she suffer?", he asked, his gaze fixed on something far away. She shook her head.

"No… It was quick.", she replied.

"It won't be for them." Loki's voice was utterly calm. But even without reading his aura, Ljosira felt the lust for revenge stir inside him, like the growl of an ancient beast, the coiling body of a giant serpent. And she feared that this one, she couldn't calm or cast out. Because such hurt ran too deep.

Loss was not something she was supposed to change. It needed to rage, fade, heal and shift, until it would become remembrance. Until he would accept it like the visit of an old friend, which is joyful, yet fills one with sadness at the time one parts from him again. All she could do was to hope that she made a difference, gave comfort. Because at that moment, it was so badly needed.


	9. Treason

_AN: So in this chapter we pretty much "fast forward" for a bit, seeing the events leading up to the Convergence in a little less detail. I hope you are not disappointed - because now the real fun starts. Bear with me and thank you for following & the nice reviews once more :) _

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"He _will_ betray you.", Fandral noted grimly.

"He will try.", Thor corrected him. They were sitting in a dimly lit room, all huddled around a round table: Thor, Volstagg, Fandral and Sif. Heimdall stood leaned against a wall, wearing an expression of serious insult. Ljosira understood him – he was supposed to have sight that cannot be fooled, but the Dark Elves had easily slipped past him. The Gatekeeper had inherited her brother's pride along with his eyes, and therefore he was angry.

For hours, they'd been discussing a plan to free Jane Foster – now imprisoned by Odin for she carried the Ether in her body, the thing responsible for Frigga's death – and lure Malekith to Svartalfheim. Thor intended to destroy the Ether, but since the Bifröst was closed by an unforgiving and grief-stricken Allfather, there was only one person who could get them there: Loki. Nobody else had knowledge about the secret passages they craved for this endeavour.

"He will not.", Ljosira spoke, making the assembled warriors flinch as she stepped from the shadows. They looked at her in astonishment. Only Heimdall was not surprised. "I cannot accompany you to Svartalfheim, for I would not survive long in its darkness. But I will keep watch over all of you."

So they decided to free Loki and kidnap Jane from her prison with Sif's help, then use her, Volstagg and Fandral as distractions while they escaped inside the hijacked Dark Elf assault ship. Heimdall was to distract the Allfather by calling upon him at the Bifröst.

"This all sounds very dangerous, Thor… So many things could go wrong…", Ljosira worried as she walked side by side with him through a deserted corridor hours later. Thor glanced at her searchingly.

"I know… Are you worried about me or Loki?", he asked jokingly, trying to take a little of the tension in her face away. She threw him a look of fake accusation.

"Both of you." Thor came to halt at the end of the walkway. It opened out into a small, unfenced terrace. Fandral stood on the deck of a sky-striker which was hovering in mid-air, its ornamented wings reflecting the sunlight. The jovial warrior's expression was calm and charming, as though he wasn't embarking on an act of treason, but rather taking some pretty lady on an afternoon pleasure flight.

"This is where we part.", Thor spoke in a serious tone. Ljosira turned her gaze up to his blue eyes.

"But…", she began. Thor sighed and there was something rueful in his defining, Asgardian features.

"I do not want you to get caught up in this mess. If you are seen with a traitor… Please understand, Ljosira.", the crown prince beseeched her. In truth, she knew he was right. Her first and foremost concern, as it was posed by her father, was the rite of passage. And that was a task of observation and careful watch, not one of hasty actions. She wasn't allowed to meddle in other occurrences, and if she conspired with Thor openly against the Allfather, she would receive punishment, maybe even be exiled. With a heavy heart, Ljosira bid farewell to Thor, watching him board the sky-striker.

"Be safe.", she told him. "Do not let the darkness of Svartalfheim through the door of your soul, for it will take root and make itself a home there." Thor had a strange feeling that these words weren't meant for him only – she was addressing Loki too. As the sky-striker took flight, Ljosira's form grew smaller. Asgard's setting sun broke through the clouds and a blazing, orange light fell upon the terrace, engulfing the dragon's form as though she had burst into flames.

He caught one last glimpse of her eyes, trained on his diminishing silhouette, painted into liquid gold by the sunset.

_And remember,_ she had said to him right after the meeting, _if you do not return Loki to Asgard before the Convergence, he will be tried in absentia, and even I will not be able to foresee the outcome. _

Loki wasn't expecting his brother, since Thor never visited anyway, and so he hadn't bothered to cast an illusion around his pitiful self until he noticed the difference between the footsteps. Those were much too heavy for the fragile dragon princess. The mess in his room vanished and turned into its usual furniture, with him standing at the barrier, fully clothed and elegant as always. Just a moment before Thor walked into view.

Loki hid his surprise about his brother's appearance. Dressed in a modest cape that covered his boastful armor, with a serious expression on his face and a strange weariness in his eyes, this Thor looked very unlike the one he knew. Still, Loki remained indifferent.

"Thor… After all this time, and now you come to visit me.", he spoke in a sarcastic manner, leaning forward until his brow almost touched the barrier.

"Why?" He didn't make an effort to hide his contempt, although the small whisper of his conscience piped up. He ignored it, and instead spoke the same words he had uttered the last time they'd seen each other.

"Have you come to gloat? To mock?", but Thor interrupted him. Not with his well-known rumbling voice, but a calm, very serious one.

"Loki, enough. No more illusions." Maybe Ljosira had influenced him more than he knew, but there was a small hint of pleading urgency in Thor's words that stirred something in him. And so Loki straightened to close his eyes. The illusion dissolved, letting Thor see him as he truly was, battered and broken by their mother's death. When he explained the plan that Loki should help him escape Asgard with Jane, his brother gave a humorless laugh.

"What makes you think you can trust me?", Loki inquired. Thor met his gaze with a piercing stare.

"I don't. Mother did. And you know who else?" He must have seen the flicker of emotion in Loki's eyes, and even though his brother tried to hide it immediately, Thor had noticed it: Affection.

"Exactly. The dragon, whose heart is wide enough to have a place in it for someone like you.", he continued.

"Is she coming with us too?", Loki asked, his brow furrowed.

"You would have me put her into the danger of the Dark World? Closeness to the Ether causes her physical pain. It is out of the question to bring her.", his words had a warning undertone now. But to Thor's great surprise, Loki nodded, looking… glad.

"Good.", his brother said earnestly, leaving him baffled. "When do we start?"

Ljosira's hands were pressed firmly onto the stirring rod of her sky-striker, her eyes staring blankly into the distance as she tried hard to see the events with her dragon's sight. The vehicle protested against the pace she put it through and the solid part of the Bifröst rushed past her in a rainbow blur.

A deafening clash ripped her from the concentrated state and she spun her head around to see the blade-like assault ship shoot from the palace like an onyx dagger. It swayed dangerously, reminding her of a drunk bird and Ljosira questioned Thor's wisdom about this idea in earnest. Her sky-striker buckled and shrieked when she made it stop in mid-flight. She watched the assault ship stagger its way through Asgard's sky, taking some of the city's inventory with it since the pilots clearly had no idea how to fly such a thing. But ironically, the thrashing around helped them to avoid the cannon fire that erupted a minute later.

"Reckless princes you have, Allfather…", she murmured to an imaginary Odin. Almost as if she had conjured him, the real Odin appeared in the distance. On his majestic, eight-legged horse Sleipnir, whose hooves made the rainbow bridge resonate with their thunderous blows, the Allfather was riding in her direction. He stopped when he was levelled with her, his face rigid and his eye a piercing edge.

"Ljosira. What happened?" Sleipnir pranced and let out an impatient neigh, clearly offended by being halted so abruptly. Ljosira looked up to him with regret.

"Your sons escaped with the Ether, Allfather." She glimpsed the assault ship as it plunged downward and disappeared behind a hill, but she felt that Loki and Thor were safe, travelling on. Odin was still scrutinizing her when she turned back to him.

"Did you help them?", he simply asked. There was no anger in his voice, probably because he knew the answer.

"Even if I wanted to, I am forbidden.", she answered truthfully, but with a hint of offense. Odin sighed and lowered his gaze.

"I did not mean to offend you.", he then said in a strange tone. "Am I cursed?"

Ljosira shook her head and managed a thin smile.

"Maybe you have just taught them too well.", she replied. The Allfather looked at her for a long moment.

"You are going to the observatory?" His features had softened just the tiniest bit. Sleipnir huffed again, shaking his long, grey mane.

"Yes. I cannot sit around and do nothing. There I can do the only thing I am allowed to: Observe."

And that, she did. From Heimdall's realm, which was deserted since the Bifröst was closed, she followed Loki's and Thor's turbulent escape to Svartalfheim with Jane Foster, saw their first real conversation in ages and watched as they derived a plan to deceive Malekith – together. Even though a similar shadow blanketed them as she had seen it during the Dark Elves' attack, she squinted and struggled, until she could make out their auras. Faint and as though looking through thick fog, yet at least visible. Ljosira suspected that the presence of the Kursed was responsible for her clouded view.

But there was nothing she could do when the confrontation happened, when Thor could not destroy the Ether and the desperate fight broke out. Their carefully thought-out trick had failed. With horror Ljosira saw Loki get impaled on the weapon that he had struck through the Kursed's chest. There was a maddening surge of fear, but before she could scream, she noticed it. The life-bond wasn't reacting. He was not in danger.

And Ljosira realized Loki's plan – he intended to fake his death. Her shock turned into disappointment, desperation. As she saw Thor lay down his brother to the ground below Svartalfheim's gloomy sun and felt the crushing sadness of the thunder prince, she cursed herself for having told Thor that Loki would not betray him, for believing that he was capable of change. This was exactly what she had feared, but had tried to ignore all this time. A cry, filled with anger, hurt and frustration, escaped her throat and echoed into the great void.


	10. No More Tricks

_AN: Aww, Ljosira is so cute when she's angry. I wonder if that made Loki come to his senses, heheh... _

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Suddenly, another presence that manifested right behind Ljosira drew her attention away from Loki. She spun around to see a perfect, bright sphere of light form in the middle of the observatory, coalescing into a shifting cluster of stars. It was as though looking into the very eyes of Yggdrasil.

"My daughter. I sense that your heart is very troubled.", her father's voice spoke through the sphere. Ljosira let out a small whimper.

"How can it not be, father? Malekith has the Ether and it seems I haven't been able to cast out any darkness from Loki's soul. I have achieved nothing!", she cried in desperation.

"Now, do not be so quick to judge when things may look dire. I have taught you better. You have to trust the crown prince, he is capable of stopping Malekith. Although it troubles me that some of the Darkflight are getting restless… As for Loki… Did you really look closely enough? Maybe your doubts obscure the truth. Maybe your own uncertainty is clouding the uncertainty in his mind. I hope you come to a conclusion soon – the Convergence is upon us. Hurry now…" Ljosira wanted to say something, but the sphere dissolved in front of her eyes, leaving her alone in Heimdall's observatory.

On her own in this deserted place, the dragon princess sank to her knees in front of the Gatekeeper's podium. She leaned onto the first step and buried her face in her arms. If she could only cry like a mortal! They always looked so relieved and tired after they have wept.

In less than a few hours, she had to present Loki's case in front of the council, and she had nothing to prove his innocence, because he'd chosen deception and lies again, instead of seeing the chance to truly redeem himself. There was still a shadow in his soul, although it had become smaller and smaller with time. At least she thought it had.

So why, _why_ did he do this to her, when she had been sure that she was succeeding in casting the darkness out? How could she defend him now? Hadn't he sought comfort in her when his mother had died? Hadn't he shown his true nature there, a man who stood alone with all his failed attempts to be appreciated? Had she really deluded herself into thinking _she_ could be enough to douse the fire of hatred, jealousy and anger in him? Ljosira pulled her shoulders back and straightened. Her father was right.

If there was any truth to be found in Loki's actions, she would extract it. With fierce determination, she rose from the gilded floor and walked sure-footedly to her sky-striker, just when she felt Loki cross the border between the worlds. It wasn't hard to follow his movements – at least not for her – and when she arrived at the palace, she sought out a dark corner in which to hide. Three corridors led to the throne room, two from the side and one leading through the great hall where the Dark Elves' assault ship had ripped all the way to the Allfather's seat.

Ljosira slipped behind an undamaged column. Since it was nighttime and most of the soldiers had been sent to search for Thor, the great, imposing hallways were deserted. She didn't have to wait for long. Footsteps of armored boots resonated from the marble tiles, and only a moment later a guard in full attire walked past her with a stern expression, the spear in his hand clanking on the stone floor. But such a disguise would never fool a Lightbringer.

"What monumental… pretentious… foolhardy arrogance must be going on inside your head!", Ljosira said when she stepped from the shadows without hesitation. Her voice shook with uncontained anger and insult. Loki froze instantly, spear still in the air. He turned around to face her, shocked at the threat in her posture. Never before had he been afraid of her, but her eyes threw out sparks of anger that made him recoil.

"This is how you return? With another trick, another foolish attempt to take what you think is yours by right? Will you never learn?!" Ljosira advanced on him with speed he had never expected of her and the next he knew, her hand soared through the air. With incredible force for such a small person, she slapped him right across the face, so hard he staggered and his eyes went wide. The sound resonated back sharply in the emptiness around them. She didn't bother to read his aura, now erupting like a force of nature, choking the air out of his lungs with the magic that burst from her as though someone had ignited the fuse of a bomb.

"Is this your gratitude for my efforts? Is this how you thank me for keeping you company, for trying to protect you in front of the Allfather, and the Council, and the whole goddamn world?" Ljosira was beyond fury. Her voice had risen to a yell and echoed across the hallway, but no one was present to hear her, nobody but Loki.

Who was sure anything he'd say would only make it worse. How could he explain that as soon as he left her proximity, her light, the sinister other side had filled his head with ideas. And even though he tried to suppress it and partially succeeded, he had once again done something he couldn't completely understand or justify. The plan had been reasonable just a while ago – but now this creature of divine ire, born from light and truth, was screaming at him and a part of him knew he deserved it.

"I trusted you, you lying bastard! I trusted you and you turned to evil again! Now they will find you guilty and sever my bond with you and it will be gone forever and I'll never feel it again –", but her voice sank until it broke like a thin piece of glass and she looked on the verge of tears, but none came. And with it broke the illusion of the guard Loki had created. It simply dissolved to reveal his true form, lost for words, hands sinking aimlessly to his side. He didn't know what would happen, wondering if he would burst into bits from her anger, but he did it anyway.

He raised his arms and pulled her against his chest. For the fraction of a second, her whole body went tense, before she gave in and softened. Burying his face in her silver hair, Loki took a deep breath. She smelled like sunlight.

"I know… I know… I'm a fool… I'm sorry.", he whispered.

It occurred to him that this was the second time he spoke these words today, and in way, he had meant them each. Maybe the mortal he had killed on the flying fortress had been right all along. His plans were always doomed to fail. However much he lied and twisted the words of his loved ones because he was unwilling, too stubborn to face the truth, he lacked conviction. For if he truly, deeply looked into his heart – the place he feared the most – then it told him that even he did not believe his own lies.

Living in Thor's over-towering shadow hurt and diminished him all his life, but was that really worth casting away everything? Wasn't his brother one who had learned humbleness and the meaning of true protection by giving himself up, when Loki had sent the Destroyer to kill him? And wasn't his mother, his not-mother, one who'd loved him despite his origin?

Loki was incredibly tired. Tired of all the conflict in his mind, tired of the questions that demanded answers, tired of fighting against his doubts, of being angry _all the time_. Ljosira was warm and soft in his arms and he could feel her warmth spread through his body, still cold and bleak from his journey to the Dark World.

"Is it too late to help Thor against Malekith?", he mumbled into her hair. She sighed deeply and pulled away, even though she would have been content to stay like this. Maybe forever. But time was pressing.

"We cannot help him now. All we can do is to trust him to succeed.", she answered slowly. A flash of silver crossed her eyes. "We have our own conflict to settle. The Convergence is close."

"Will I go back into the prison?", Loki asked, his voice a little weak.

"I hope that won't be necessary. But…", she lifted her gaze to him. It was such a thorough look that Loki felt as though she was peering right into his soul. She probably was.

"Loki, I will defend you in trial, but the time for mischief is over now. As your advocate, I urge you… If there is anything you want to tell me… You should do it now. You will not be able to lie to the Council.", she emphasized, sounding more serious than he had ever heard her. He averted his eyes.

"Sometimes… it feels as though there is someone else… it sounds like the voice of my own conscience. Only not entirely right. And I feel the need to do these things. These plans that lead me to glory… Like faking my death just now. It seems reasonable… and not. Do I even make sense?", he fumbled for words. Loki had never tried to explain the strange chiasm of his mind to anyone else before.

"Since when?", Ljosira inquired.

"Since… always, I guess.", he replied but she shook her head.

"No. It became worse. When?" Loki pondered this for a moment.

"It was at its worst when the Chitauri gave me that staff. A very powerful weapon, I relished in wielding it. But… it always felt just slightly… wrong.", he tried to find the right expression. Ljosira watched him closely.

"I understand.", she said after a moment of silence. Loki raised his eyebrows.

"You do? Even to me, that sounded like a shifty explanation. And I know a lot about shiftiness.", he mused. The ghost of a smile flashed across her lips when Ljosira tugged his arm.

"Come, I'll explain it on the way." They walked down the corridor and he noticed that her expression has become very tense.

"The Chitauri weapon you wielded on Midgard was truly powerful, but also sinister. It infected your mind. Even for me, it is very hard to tell which of your actions had been your own, and which had been whispered to you by the corrupting shadow in the staff. I won't be able to rid you of all guilt. But…", she paused and turned to him with a scrutinizing stare.

"Listen to me now. When we are in front of the council, you must not try to fool them. No tricks this time, Loki. They will see through it like through glass. If you attempt to trick them, they will take it as an act of defiance and even I won't be able to protect you. Do you understand?"

Loki straightened and his gaze trailed into the distance for a moment. So it was true, the weapon had been the reason for his madness. Well, not exactly – it had amplified every conflict he felt and somehow, unnoticed by him, planted ideas into his mind. But with Ljosira so close for weeks, he'd been starting to feel better. He closed his eyes and nodded, sighing.

"All right.", he said quietly. They moved on, walking in silence for a while. Loki didn't know what to expect – would the Council appear in Asgard? Would he be brought to Yggdrasil and face a bunch of giant dragons staring down at him accusingly? He had no idea. But when Ljosira headed into the direction of Odin's throne, he felt uneasy.

"Where are we going?", he asked the dragon princess, who had her eyes turned stubbornly ahead of her.

"To the Allfather. He will attend too."; she answered.

"Well, this is going to be the worst kind of family meeting.", he said with a tortured look on his face. Ljosira seemed to agree in silence.

The crushed pillars of the throne hall had been recreated hastily, but some of them still ended in jagged pieces hanging from the ceiling like weird stalactites. The throne itself loomed at the top of the stairs, shattered and unrepaired. It looked as though pieces of matter had been ripped right out of it by the claws of some ravenous beast and Loki knew it had been one of the dark matter grenades the Dark Elves used. Odin was standing on the stairs with his back turned to them and he had the feeling his not-father looked shrunken, like a man who'd faced too many disappointments.

Hearing their footsteps, Odin turned to them. A glint of fury passed through his eye, but his expression stayed stern, as though chiselled from stone.

"Ljosira… And I see you brought at least one lost son home.", he bowed his head a little, before his gaze turned to Loki. There was nothing but reproach in it. Or if there was, he couldn't see it. "I should throw you right back into the prison and your brother too, when he comes back! Maybe you would stop breaking your oaths and finally destroy each other!", his voice was sharp as a blade.

"Allfather… Please, calm yourself. He helped Thor, who is now fighting against Malekith. And he returned willingly, to face his trial.", Ljosira said softly. Odin heaved a sigh.

"Your father is right. You really have a kind heart." Then they both walked to the back of the throne. Loki couldn't fathom why. There was only a solid wall of gold behind it.

"Come. We need to go now, Loki.", Ljosira addressed him.

"Go… where? Inside a wall?", he asked a little sarcastically. But Odin pressed his hand into a slight recess in the golden marble, and it started to retreat like some sort of strange liquid, forming a passage to a hidden chamber right behind the king's throne. The edges were quivering as though unsure which form to take.

On the outside, Loki looked mildly surprised, but in reality he was impressed that there was still a passage in all of Asgard he hadn't discovered. He followed Ljosira and Odin into the chamber, which was perfectly circular and had a similar dome as the observatory. Here, too, a podium stood in the middle. The ceiling was probably the oddest thing Loki had ever seen – although he would revise that thought a few minutes later. It was made from four kinds of metal that met right above the podium.

The metal ornaments cradled a material that looked like what the Bifröst was made of, yet different. Instead of shimmering in all possible colors, they each had their own hue, but within that boundary, there was no limit to their countless shades. Green, at the same time dark emerald and light grass. Sunlight yellow, almost white at its centre. Dark violet with rosy pink surging in it. And red, from richest bloody to pitch black.

While he still pondered the strangeness of the place, Ljosira led him onto the platform and the Allfather struck his spear into the socket. Then he took a step back and to Loki's astonishment, she grabbed the handle with both hands. Beams of light erupted from the tip and the dome started spinning rapidly, just like the activation of the Bifröst.

"Grant me passage.", Ljosira said over the thundering and rumbling noise, and as the light became too blinding, Loki closed his eyes. He had the sensation that his body was lengthened and stretched into infinity, some incredible force pressing him like graphite to a diamond at the same time. Maybe Ljosira had never thought about the possibility that he may not survive the journey to the Council, and he would soon shatter into a million pieces.

But nothing like that happened. Without warning, the pressure disappeared at once and he felt his feet touch solid ground.


	11. Yggdrasil

_AN: Okay guys, I knoooow you've been waiting for some... well action, probably. Thank you for your patience and for the followers, favs... I promise, it will come soon~ The thing is, I never liked to prompt a relationship at the very beginning of a story, I always take my time to truly develop something that makes it more real for my readers. Loki is someone who has a hard time trusting people to begin with, and I think it is in this chapter that he truly realizes how important Ljosira is to him. I always imagined him as a person who refuses to believe he is loved until the point where you have to slap him in the face with it. And at the same time, we conclude the happenings of the Dark World and get to see the High Council of Dragons. Let's see how the trial goes! _

* * *

Loki opened his eyes to the strangest view he would ever come to see. Millions of stars, all formed into the branches and leaves of a tree, arched over the vast disk he was standing on. Streams of liquid light rippled their way across the plane, wound between pillars made from meteorite dust to plunge over the edge into infinite space. Curtains, shimmering like powdered jewels, hung from the branches of Yggdrasil.

Everything seemed to be only half real, not entirely earthly but beyond such a graspable thing, come to life by magic that had no equal. Even the very ground he was standing on, translucent and glowing like enchanted glass, felt as though he would slip right through it. Loki was lost for words. When his gaze found Odin's, he saw a flicker of amusement and the same awe he felt. It was the first time since ages that his father didn't look at him with contempt.

Ljosira, the dragon princess who marvelled at stitching on clothes and letters in books, didn't seem to be affected at all, which was pretty absurd. A raised platform floated in front of them across the plane, but Loki could only make out blurry shapes in the distance, and a half-circle structure of columns twinkling in many colors. A figure dressed in white was approaching them. Tall and thin, draped with a long robe, his white hair flowed over his shoulders and around his elven features. The crown on his brow had eight curved spikes that instantly reminded Loki of horns. Before any of them could greet the newcomer, Ljosira broke into a run to meet him.

"Father!", she cried out in joy and flung her arms around his neck. He didn't even sway, but just caught her lightly and smiled.

"Ah, my fledgling. This aura is much better than the one I saw before. It is good to see you cheerful again.", Elding said with warmth in his rhythmic voice.

"I hope my youngest has not caused you too much trouble, Allfather.", he addressed Odin with a bow of his head. The Allfather returned the gesture.

"Not at all, old friend.", he replied. Elding's gaze found Loki, who was struck by a most curious sensation. Even though he wanted to look away, he couldn't. His eyes simply chose not to obey, and so he felt something ancient gaze right through him, as though his innermost self had been turned inside out. All his secrets and cloaks of lies were ripped from him as easily as tearing off a mask and his soul lay blank before millennia of knowledge, bare like an exposed nerve. So this was what it felt like to be x-rayed by the Dragon King.

Loki was starting to get a little queasy at the thought of what Elding would say when he saw the part devoted to his daughter… This situation was declining rapidly into mortal danger for him. But nothing horrible happened. Elding did not pulverize him on the spot, instead broke his scrutinizing stare and looked as though he'd just retrieved an ordinary, lost item without meaning to.

"Hm. Interesting.", he said. It sounded mildly curious, which for some reason was a little insulting for the act of scanning someone's very soul. Then again, he _was_ the Dragon King. He had probably seen every possible thing in the world. Nothing would startle him easily.

"Follow me. The Council is already assembled.", Elding said in a calm voice. They walked across a wide pathway lined with starry willows. Loki found himself looking down to his feet frequently – it was a very odd feeling to walk on something he could see through. Below, other disks were shifting into view and he realized that he was looking at the Nine Realms, lining up for the Convergence. He glimpsed Asgard, shining like a bright gold coin. Midgard was much further down, a blur of ocean blue, forest green and steely grey. Jotunheim, farther down yet, threw back a dull gleam from its dark ice. Loki had to admit, it was a sight to behold.

Absorbed in it, he didn't notice they had reached the raised platform. He'd been right about the semi-circle of columns, but their crystalline material was not what caught his attention. Three figures, who were now joined by Elding, sat on throne-like seats above, and they were all staring at him.

It was a very unusual quartet: A woman of average size and hair as black as a raven's wing right next to Elding had her head leaned into her hand. Her dark eyes were full of sinister intelligence and trained on Loki with open decline. On her left was a woman whose beauty could compete with Ljosira's. She wore a dress that seemed to be woven from enchanted grass and above her radiant features, a tiara of leaves crowned her auburn hair. Last in line was an ageless man cloaked in violet shadows. Loki thought he looked very serious, but somehow slightly absent, as though his mind was elsewhere, his eerie white eyes staring at something nobody else could see. It wasn't hard to recognize the leaders of the dragon clans in their mortal forms, although he wondered why they chose to appear like this. Elding stood and one by one, the leaders followed his example.

"Welcome to the High Council. It has been some time since we last had mortal visitors. I believe it was five thousand years ago, when my son gave his sight to Asgard's gatekeeper.", he began neutrally. Each leader bowed to Odin and the lady in green even gave him a smile.

"You age with pride, Allfather", she said with a voice that sounded deep and abundant like fresh earth.

"As you know, we are here to oversee my youngest daughter Ljosira's rite of passage. She has been tasked with the observation of this mortal, who has conspired with the Chitauri and brought them to Midgard in a crusade of destruction. Natta, if you please.", Elding continued. The woman in black stepped forward.

"The Darkflight has successfully kept the Chitauri in quarantine for many centuries. And for very good reasons – they are masters of deceit and can manipulate a myriad of mortals to do their bidding. But this one let them loose upon the world. And since his past crimes clearly show how unstable he is, I call to cease this nonsense and simply execute him." Even though she was posing an open death-threat, her voice was much like the night itself – smooth, dark velvet. Ljosira opened her mouth, but Aevi, the leader of the Life-Binders, spoke before she could.

"Natta. I understand that you are angry about the trespass of your quarantine. But we do not take life before examining the circumstances. I see great magical potential in this one – the power to create.", Aevi said thoughtfully. The man dressed in violet shadows, leader of the Voidwalkers and master of death, Andlát interjected without looking at any of them.

"Up until now, he has only taken lives, Aevi." His gaze was still somewhere in the distance so it seemed as though he was talking to himself. Loki had an odd feeling that he floated above his body and looked down on the events like an unaffected observer. It was all much too bizarre.

"Since the High Council is diverted about this issue, I call my daughter forward as a witness.", Elding took the word again. Ljosira took a deep breath and stepped before the four council members, who were now watching her with various expressions ranging from benevolent to accusing. Loki thought she looked like a wildly overstretched string, on the verge of a rupture.

"Respected members of the council. Even before I was sent to Asgard by my father, I have been watching the accused and his actions from Yggdrasil. I arrived at Asgard with the suspicion that the happenings on Midgard, concerning the Chitauri invasion, have been manipulated by them, and so has Loki.", she said, casting him a sideways glance.

"What makes you think so?", Andlát inquired, now sounding intrigued and less distant than before. Ljosira's eyes flickered to her father, who gave her the smallest of nods.

"There are several reasons. First of all, the staff. As Natta said, the Chitauri are masters of manipulation. Why would they just willingly give him such a weapon, make him the leader of their vanguard and offer him dominion over Midgard, such an act strikes me as sinisterly altruistic for all we know about them." Natta grunted to this, a very inelegant gesture.

"Mind-controlling Midgardians is something else entirely than twisting an Asgardian's motives. But he's not even Asgardian, is he? He is a Jotun! A liar even before he outgrew the crib!" Loki felt a sting of deep offence – Natta had spoken out loud the truth that hurt and angered him the most: The fact that his true self was a monster with no place in any world. Homeless, cast out and always to be viewed with suspicion, even open disgust. Ljosira's face distorted and she pointed a hand at Natta accusingly.

"I object to such a meaningless insult! This trial has nothing to do with origin and you are bending the truth because of your wounded pride!" The Darkflight leader's abysmal eyes became very narrow as she glared at Ljosira.

"You dare to talk to me like that, _fledgling_?", her voice was dangerously low.

"Enough! You will keep personal offenses out of this trial, Natta. And you, my daughter, need to watch your words when you address the leader of a flight.", Elding commanded. Natta snorted derisively, but sat down on her throne again. Ljosira's jaw went rigid. If looks could kill, Loki thought… On the other hand, he was impressed by the way Ljosira defended him. Had the outcome of his trial depended on Natta, he would surely have been eradicated by now.

"Ljosira. We understand your suspicion about the weapon. But we cannot base judgement on that alone. Surely you have some evidence to support your claim.", Aevi stated calmly. The Life-Binder was trying to help her.

"Yes… I have spent a considerable amount of time in Loki's presence and tried to discuss these matters with him honestly. That, in addition to watching his aura with my sight, leads me to believe the Chitauri staff has corrupted his mind.", Ljosira explained.

"Can you show us?", Elding asked, his voice even but with a strange undertone, like a teacher assigning a task to a student. Now that he thought about it, Loki had seen Ljosira perform all kinds of magic, exceptional and beautiful effigies, but she had never conjured the image of an aura. In fact, when he'd asked her many weeks ago, the first time she'd been in his cell, she'd said _'I wish I could show you.'_, as though it was something impossible. Ljosira swallowed and lifted her hands, her expression like someone's with exam nerves.

Hundreds of strings, some thick and solid, some thin as a thread, appeared in the air and started to weave together. This enchantment seemed to take up all of her concentration, because Loki noticed the way her fingers moved, like playing an incredibly complicated composition on an instrument. Color was given to each string, then they were carefully braided with others. Red with black and orange, dull grey coiling around it. Forest green, light yellow, and many more he couldn't even name. A shadow formed in between the tangled strings, beating with dark purpose as it sent strange spikes out with each pulse. Ljosira paused, looking desperate. Recreating an aura was too much for her – but Loki didn't know how difficult his own was to read, yet to copy. Her hands froze in the middle of a movement. Elding took a step forward and watched her closely.

"Go on. You are doing just fine.", he assured his daughter. She tried. Soon, the shape of a man floated between Ljosira and the council, made from countless knots, weaves and fibres.

"Marvellous! Look, there is the shade. What do you think, Elding?", Aevi said, her deep voice filled with wonder. Natta looked like she'd bitten into something sour.

"That is not a natural occurrence. The edges are much too sharp, and it keeps trying to escape. My daughter is right.", he said proudly.

"What is that, around the heart? It looks like a…", Andlát indicated a ribbon of pure white light from which a thread extended off the figure's chest.

"A life-bond. A disgrace to our kind.", Natta spat out and Elding sighed. Ljosira's concentration seemed to break and the image of Loki's aura dissolved, leaving her exhausted and spent. Loki looked down to his feet, and if all the happenings of the day weren't enough, he glimpsed winding tentacles of utter darkness. They swirled, slowly penetrating each of the Nine Realms, starting to cloak them in shadow. Elding must have noticed the terror on his face.

"The thunder prince is taking his time to defeat Malekith, it seems.", he noted matter-of-factly, as if talking about the weather. "Well then. My daughter, you have successfully recreated a very complicated aura and shown us the source of corruption in this mortal that has influenced his actions. But still…", and during his next words, Elding taxed Loki with his gaze, "he has proven an affinity to evil. If we are to set him free…" Ljosira cleared her throat.

"I do not propose to set him free. Not yet anyway. I think the question if he would turn to evil again in such a manner that it harms other people needs more time to be answered. And there is still some corruption left.", she began carefully.

"You seem to have a suggestion, young one. What would you have us do?", Aevi inquired with interest.

"I would let him out of prison and return him to his old home in the palace, but place an enchantment around the area, a magical barrier. And… I would accompany him back to Asgard, so I can oversee his progress. At least for the time being." The council members exchanged looks with each other.

"This much fuss about a mortal! The bond makes your youngest sentimental, Elding.", Natta said scornfully. The tendrils of shade were nearing the platform and Loki could see the light of Yggdrasil's branches fade. Even the council members looked concerned now, except Natta. She seemed delighted, mocking even. The Dragon King ignored her.

"A tremendous offer you make, Ljosira. And the accused stands silent during all of the trial. Are you sure this is not wasted on him?", Andlát inquired thoughtfully. Aevi turned her eyes to Loki too.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Loki? Your lifeline has been extended several times now. This may be the last opportunity for you to redeem yourself and choose a path of creation rather than destruction. Will you live up to it?", the Life-Binder said. Loki felt every pair of eyes, even the Allfather's single one, watching him and he knew this was the moment Ljosira had warned him about. He would have to pick his words carefully. It was getting darker yet.

"High Council of Dragons… I have made choices that seemed right to me, but proved wrong and disastrous in the end. Denying that I feel… conflicted most of the time would be a lie. But if there is a possibility to make the right decision… one that doesn't end in me being cast out or… falling from the edge of the world… I shall try." It was one of the hardest things he had done in his life, meeting the gaze of each leader. Natta's eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

"If you step one toe out of line, mortal…", she growled.

"Very well, so be it.", Elding lifted a hand. As though carefully choreographed, the tendrils of darkness stopped moving and started to dissolve. All of the Nine Realms and the myriads of stars in Yggdrasil's crown lit up, but it was Ljosira's face that outshone them all. A smile, wide, radiant and wondrous, spread across her face like the dawn of a new day. Thor had succeeded, and so had she.

"Do you accept these terms, Allfather?", the Dragon King turned to Odin and Loki's heart sank. He had convinced the council, but his not-father was a whole other thing. He might deny just out of spite and disappointment. Odin and Elding shared a long, thorough look.

"I agree.", he then said without emotion in his voice.

"It seems one of your sons just saved us a life in eternal darkness, and the other is willing to make up for his past mistakes. You have taught them well.", Elding mused. Loki thought he might have imagined it, but it looked as though the slightest smile crept unto Odin's features.

"Too well.", he said with a glance at Ljosira, who was still smiling.

"This meeting is hereby concluded.", Elding said. Natta was gone before he had finished his sentence, and Loki saw a giant, onyx shadow leap from the edge of the platform.

"She was never fond of me.", Ljosira noted bitterly. Her father stepped from the dais and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You exposed her in front of the other council members. Do not expect her to love you for it.", he scolded her. But then his face softened. "I am truly proud today. You performed admirably in the aura-task."

"You could have chosen something simpler.", she muttered, which made Elding laugh.

"It looked difficult. Is it usually like this?", Loki wanted to know. Ljosira averted her eyes and looked a little embarrassed for some reason.

"Recreating an aura is complex magic at the best of times. But my father likes to make a challenge even more challenging." He didn't understand what she meant, but Elding smiled at her words. Then the Dragon King turned to Odin.

"I must ask you to take your leave now. Only dragons are allowed to attend the rite of passage. It is one of our most sacred ceremonies.", he said. A mysterious expression was on his face when he looked at Loki. Who didn't like the thought of being parted from Ljosira again, especially after what happened the last time. When Odin took his arm and lead him away, back to the portal, he glanced over his shoulder frequently. Before they stepped unto the small dais and his father struck his spear into the socket, Loki caught a last glimpse of the dragon princess. Illuminated by the many lights of Yggdrasil, her grey eyes trained on him and an enigmatic smile on her lips.

"_I'll see you soon."_, he heard her voice speak into his very thoughts.


	12. Game of Dare

_AN: Okay, so I'm really not at all sure how the scenes coming up are playing out, I'm really starting to get self-conscious about my writing... We had a chapter "Game Of Truth" before, where the main theme was honesty cloaked by a challenging game. Now this is called "Game Of Dare", because our two main characters have to be a little daring. Enjoy! And by the way, I am amazed about all the follows I'm getting. I try to keep up the good work! Also, while writing the last scene, I listened to Love Death Birth from Carter Burwell a lot (I have to say I'm practically neutral about the Twilight Series itself, but the whole soundtrack, especially this song, never fails to inspire me for love scenes... it's beautiful music.). _

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Two days later, stars were still falling relentlessly over Asgard's sky and Loki was getting restless. It was a beautiful spectacle, they way they would shoot like streaks of light over the horizon in dozens and illuminate the golden towers for a moment.

Being back in his quarters was a great improvement to the claustrophobic confines of his cell, although even here, magical barriers had been set up to keep him from trespassing. They glowed much fainter than the prison shields, but he could sometimes glimpse them if he used the right angle, shimmering at the end of the corridor, outside the terrace.

Loki sighed and stepped away from the marvellous view that marked Ljosira's passing into adulthood, his gaze aimlessly passing over the neat furniture in his study. It seemed empty without her company. Lacking real interest, he flipped through a book on his desk when Odin's voice sounded behind him.

"You know what she did for you… It was not a mere act of kindness.", he said thoughtfully. There was a strange expression in his eye, but Loki could not decipher it. Just as little as his words.

"Come. Your brother has returned.", Odin continued, as though he just remembered what he came here to do. Loki followed the Allfather, feeling the awkward enchantment wrapping around his hands like shackles as soon as he passed through the barrier at the end of the corridor. It was supposed to keep his magic at bay and he couldn't say that he liked it much.

The hallways were quiet. Grieving period had already ended, but people were still rattled by the attack of the Dark Elves. Only a few lonely guards crossed their way to the throne room. Thor was standing at the lowest step, looking a little battered but otherwise unharmed. Loki hesitated. How was he supposed to explain his death to his brother? He had a feeling that he couldn't talk himself out of this one. And surely enough, as soon as Thor caught sight of him, his face went blank, then twisted with all kinds of emotions like it couldn't decide which one to choose.

"Loki… You were dead.", he said, bewildered. Loki opened his mouth to answer – although he had no idea what – but another voice, more familiar than he dared to admit it, chimed through the hall.

"I would call it a… _draconic_ intervention." Ljosira stepped down the stairs from behind the throne, dressed in a similar robe like on the night he had first met her. Her face was still exactly the same, youthful and stunning, but her silver hair was now streaked with white strands and pulled up instead of flowing freely around her shoulders.

"I trusted you to defeat Malekith!" To both their utter astonishment, she ran up to Thor with a dazzling smile and flung herself into his arms. The crown prince caught her and spun her around like she was nothing but a feather.

"So this is allowed now!", he laughed wholeheartedly and set her down again, while Loki watched the whole thing with a clenched jaw and an unexplainable rush of jealousy. He didn't know where it came from, but he wanted to punch Thor in the face.

"Congratulations, Ljosira. I have no idea how you did it, but it doesn't matter now.", he said and moved to pull Loki into a hug. It took him completely by surprise and he realized that Ljosira had defused the possibly disastrous situation of explaining his faked death. She had spared him Thor's rage and disappointment.

"It is good to see you, brother.", Thor said. He didn't seem to be interested why Loki was still alive, just… truly glad that he was. His brother's joy left him speechless for a moment.

Ljosira curtsied graciously before Odin, but when she turned to Loki, she looked awkward, unsure how to address him.

"Welcome back, ancient one.", the Allfather nodded. "If you would excuse me, I'd like to have a few private words with my two sons.", he then said. Ljosira bowed down at once.

"Of course, your Highness. I am quite weary anyway.", she answered politely and with a last look at Loki, she walked off, robes billowing behind her.

"Father…", Thor began when she was gone. "I am… truly sorry that I went behind your back. I understand if you are mad at me." Odin walked up the stairs with cumbersome steps and sat down on the throne. For a long moment, he let his gaze trail from Thor to Loki and back again, heaving a great sigh.

"You are… a real piece of work. Both of you. One plots open treason, beats up a dozen guards, steals his brother from prison and decapitates three statues with a hijacked enemy vessel on his way out. The other is brought to trial in front of the most powerful council in the known universe after bringing an evil army to Midgard." He rubbed his brow with his free hand as though troubled by a headache. His sons stood motionless in front of the throne.

"But… but. You are also incredibly lucky. To have people who support you and pull you through the mess you create. Nothing of what you have achieved could have happened without them." Odin shook his head.

"Loki, you may leave. I want to talk to your brother alone." Since Thor had been banished, Loki was usually the one getting punishment for several failed schemes. He was very glad not to be on the receiving end this time. Thor threw him a rueful smile and against his will, Loki's lip twitched to return it.

Before that could happen, he gave his father a mocking bow and took his leave. Two guards quickly hurried to his side and accompanied him until he stepped through the barrier. They simply stopped and stood there, watching him suspiciously, as if he'd try to smash his way out again.

"Apparently, you'll be waiting a long time for that.", Loki said sarcastically without turning around. The object of his interest was not outside, but inside his confines now. He walked past his own quarters, not sparing them a second glance.

Coming to a halt in front of a set of double doors with light blue ornaments, he paused and looked at the handle. These used to be a part of his mother's chambers, but they'd been left empty most of the time. The door was ajar. Loki gently pushed it open. The sun had already set and Ljosira's quarters were flooded with twilight, although some of her lamps had lit up, emitting a soft glow. Unsmoking embers smouldered in the heating pan. For an early spring evening, it was still uncommonly cold.

Ljosira was lying on the embroidered sofa which she had pushed closer to the warmth. She was asleep, her hand sunken to the ground but still half-holding the book she had been reading. This was the first time he could look at her without her noticing, and so he took his time, standing still as a statue. He watched her eyelids flutter from a dream, her chest rise and fall with each breath, and slight shivers run through her body. She was freezing. Loki silently walked up to her. Level with her, he stopped and before he knew what he was doing, he stretched out his hand, running the back of his fingers along her cheek. It was the softest touch, lighter than gauze brushing over skin. But it made his heart quicken nevertheless.

"Thank you for saving my life…", he whispered. They were words he could only speak to her like this, when she was asleep, for his pride made it so hard to say them in waking hours. As if in agreement, she sighed and leaned into his touch just the tiniest bit.

Loki looked down at her, at the face he had grown to know better than his own reflection. And he didn't like his reflection anyway. His eyes fell to her lips, the lower one a little fuller but forming a perfect couple with the upper, and his fingers twitched with the wish to touch them. She'd opened her hair, which was now arranged in tangled waves of silver and white around her head, stray strands curling onto her brow. When her strangely old eyes were closed, she looked much less like an immortal creature and much more like a delicate, young woman.

A shivering woman. Loki picked up a streak of silver hair that ran through his fingers silkily and lay it aside between the others, before he walked to her bed and pulled one of the furs free. Gently he covered Ljosira with it, holding it up as he lifted her hand from the ground to tuck it beneath the warm blanket. This made her stir despite all his caution, and her eyes fluttered open.

"The one thing I despise about a mortal body. The cold.", she mumbled with a tired smile.

"I can tell them to bring more embers.", Loki offered, sitting down on a free sofa, but Ljosira shook her head.

"No, the fur is enough. Thank you. Do you usually enter other people's chambers without knocking?", she asked half-jokingly, half-offended.

"The door was ajar.", he simply answered, a little mischief dancing in his green eyes.

"Yes… I was reading. But my eyes seem to be too exhausted from the ritual still. Would you mind reading a passage to me?", she rubbed her eyes and handed him the book before pulling the fur up again. Loki opened it at the page where she'd stopped.

"Only if you tell me about the ceremony afterwards.", he said, looking up at her from the tome.

And so they picked up their routine from before, reading, discussing and exchanging magic they knew with each other. The freedom and privacy of the palace chambers started to make it feel like home. But Loki noticed that something was different about Ljosira. Sometimes when he looked at her, she averted her gaze or seemed distant, as though she was somewhere else entirely.

And other times he would find her door locked, like she didn't want him to intrude. After a while, and since he couldn't fathom another reason for her behaviour, Loki was starting to have a dreadful apprehension. That she regretted coming back. He feared that maybe she had finally begun to realize what a burden, a nuisance even, she had chosen when she'd taken his case. What else could it be? Ljosira was getting tired of him, wishing she could go home to Yggdrasil and not be bothered with someone like him. Someone who doesn't belong anywhere, who twists people's words and intentions, pushing them away with his scorn. Loki was brooding over these dark thoughts in his bedroom one night, when he suddenly heard muffled voices. He pricked up his sensitive ears.

They were coming from the opposite wall, the one behind which Ljosira's room lay. He put the book aside and rose from his seat in front of the fireplace, walking over to the wall. As so many rooms in the palace, his had a secret door connecting it to the adjacent chamber, but he had never used it before. Until now. Cautiously, he ran his hand along the seal that marked the handle, and the contours lit up subtly.

Loki pushed it open just enough so he could peer through the narrow chink. The voices grew much clearer, no longer muffled by the thick wall. Ljosira was standing in the middle of her chambers. She had her back turned to him and in front of her, a shimmering, shifting sphere of light floated in mid-air. It spoke with Elding's voice, albeit a little distorted.

"Your heart gives you away, my daughter! Do you think me a fool who cannot see his own kin's true feelings?", he sounded insulted and angry, but his voice was contained.

"Father please, do _not_ do this to me. No child of yours has ever had an ounce of privacy!", Ljosira frayed.

"It is only because I worry about you that I say these things! You have become increasingly secretive ever since I sent you to Asgard. You shroud yourself from my view, hiding your true feelings, and the barrier makes it even harder to see you. I don't want to lose sight of you, if something happens…", Elding said, but Ljosira prowled up and down the room restlessly.

"This is how you have treated me all my life, like I'm not capable of doing anything on my own! When you sent me here, it was the first time I was allowed to roam around freely.", her voice was agitated.

"And look what happened! You let that mortal take root in your heart, your too gentle, too kind heart. Cloud yourself all you want, but I have seen it at the trial. Now I fear for you, my sweet... Such things have never led our people into anything but suffering, Ljosira. Maybe sending you back has been a mistake. I thought it was your incredible skill that made you recreate his aura so perfectly… I thought it would give you more security if I did not separate you from the bond… But maybe I was wrong. This is getting out of hand. Please, come home, before it is too late…", Elding's tone had softened and filled with fatherly concern, but it had a hint of strict protectiveness in it. Ljosira's shoulders were trembling slightly.

"I would like to be alone now. Please.", she said quietly. There was a moment's pause.

"This conversation has ceased to be private a while ago, anyway.", Elding noted with a sigh.

Then the sphere dissolved and Ljosira spun around, her eyes widening as she caught sight of Loki pushing open the secret door until he was visible as a whole. The strange thing was, even though he had eavesdropped on a very personal conversation, he did not fear her anger at all. The burning question on his lips drowned out even the guilt.

"How long have you been standing there?", Ljosira asked, her voice sounding oddly shaky.

She felt utterly exposed. Loki didn't react to her question, but instead he slowly walked towards her. There was a strange intensity in his eyes that made her stomach flutter wildly. She mistook it for fear and backed up until her back hit one of the bed's posts. Only a second later, he was so close that his chest almost touched hers and when she looked up, she could see the dark ring around his iris.

"Is it true?", he asked very quietly. "What he said." Ljosira couldn't have answered if she had wanted to – somehow her heart thought it wise to be beating all the way up to her throat, sealing it completely shut. And since she couldn't bear to hold his gaze, she fixated a point on his smooth chin. The air felt heavy, as though someone had burdened it with the graspable tension in the room.

"Strange… On the first day when you visited me in the prison, you would not avert your eyes from mine, even though I yelled and insulted you. Now you won't look at me.", he said thoughtfully, like talking to himself. This made her look up reluctantly, her grey eyes tinted in gold by the flickering lights. He was still watching her and she had the feeling she would be drawn into his gaze, lost in that forest of deep green that was so dark it almost seemed black. And she would never find her way out again. Not even if she wanted to.

"You know that each time before I touched you, I have wondered… If I would pay with my life for it.", his lips were barely moving and it was only for her heightened, over-aware senses that she even heard his words. Long fingers settled below her chin and lifted it in a gentle, but resolute way.

"For this, I just might. But it is worth the risk." Ljosira wanted to object, to tell him that he was wrong, but before she could grasp the meaning of it all, Loki closed the distance between them. His lips brushed against her own, warm and soft, and she felt her shoulders sink, all the tension leaving her at once. It was like drawing breath after one had held it for a long, long time. A small sigh escaped her and fanned over his lips, and it was all the encouragement he needed. The hand slid from her chin to cradle her face, fingers burying in the loose strands of hair, while his free arm wrapped around her to pull her against his chest, because this was by far not close enough. His tongue flicked out playfully to trace over her lower lip, demanding entrance with a gentle push.

She granted it at once and felt a strange new sensation when his tongue slipped between her lips to dance along her own. It spread through her chest like wildfire, making her limbs tingle and tiny wings of anticipation flicker in her stomach.

Loki knew he had to stop kissing her, because soon he would do something scandalous since his self-control was fading away too quickly… But her taste, her scent, the very feel of her, it was exhilarating. Like an intoxicating wine that goes to your head and leaves you dizzy, light-headed. And when she lifted her hands to trace the lines of his face, fingertips running along them curiously, he was undone. He broke away from her but bent his head to the curve of her neck, pressing his lips against the spot he had looked at so many times, where her quickened pulse was beating frantically. His hands moved on their own accord, searched for bare skin, slipped beneath the folds of her robe to touch her shoulder, a tension building up in him like a pulled bowstring. Ljosira did not move, did not slap him for his boldness, did not repel him with some sort of spell. She just stood completely still, dazed and overwhelmed by this strange turn of events.

_No no no_, a small voice warned Loki when he left a trail of burning kisses along her neck to her collarbone, where he was annoyingly hindered by a piece of cloth. _You're going too fast, focus!,_ he thought. He lifted his lips to hers again, and after one last taste of them, he broke away.

She opened her eyes and looked at him with the same, mystified expression from their first meeting, like someone who wasn't quite sure if this was a dream or reality.


	13. One

_AN: So... What can I say... I'm a hopeless romantic. I reread this about 100 times, literally. Let's hope it's good enough. Feels all over the place~_

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"All the riches in the world to read your thoughts right now.", Loki whispered. To his amazement, a well-known flash of silver passed through her eyes and a slight, shy smile appeared on her features.

"Now, that is just unfair…", he said in a fake hurt tone.

"Sorry… Come here.", she replied softly and her hands slid to the back of his neck, pulling him down. She pressed her cheek against his. "Close your eyes." He obeyed, and a moment later, a wonderful sensation spread through him, brought by a tiny bit of her magic. His heart jumped around in his chest excitedly and he felt like flying. Like spreading his great, mighty wings, soaring high above the clouds with a home in the crown of an immense tree, and a home below, between towers of gold and brass. When Loki opened his eyes again, he was smiling.

"Then why have you been so distant since you came back?", he wondered. Ljosira shook her head slightly.

"I read auras, Loki, not thoughts. It isn't a work of certainty, but of interpretation. Dragons communicate emotions through touch…", she said and her small hand settled on the side of his face. He lifted his own to blanket it. "If you take that away… What I mean to say is… We get confused too." There was another reason, but she couldn't find it in her heart to tell him. Not yet, not now. Right now, she wanted to hold on to the joy, to him. The quick glimpse of his aura had been bursting with bright yellow. Loki turned his head and planted a kiss into her palm.

"And now?", his breath was warm against her skin, sending small shivers down her arm.

"Now… you said something about all the riches in the world?" A playful glint danced in her eyes. "Gold and jewels and dresses…"

But the last words were silenced when he kissed her again, this time not so cautious anymore. This one was fiercer, igniting a fire that burned bright and hot. Ljosira had no idea what led her to it, but she bit down on his lower lip and was rewarded with a sharp breath. So this was what the mortals called desire. She wasn't surprised that dragons avoided it – it was all-consuming.

Thoughts were driven from her head as he deepened the kiss and his hands picked up their previous journey. Only now what they found was not nearly enough. After the long weeks of being in each other's proximity, the tiny touches that only gave him the slightest idea of what could be, this felt like giving in to an aching need, a draw more powerful than any magnet. Her lips left his and travelled over the sharp line of his jaw, while he pulled her against him, his fingers fumbling with the laces of her dress.

Another hand was sliding up along her side and since their bodies were pressed against each other, she could feel something solid at her lower stomach that hadn't been there before, having a vague idea what it could be...

Loki let out a sound of annoyance at the complicated ties at her back and with a quick wave of his hand, every single lace disentangled at once. He didn't hesitate, instead pushed the now loose cloth over her shoulder and before she knew it, the dozen beautiful folds were in a heap at her feet, leaving her with nothing but a thin strip of undergarment around her waist. It shouldn't have felt embarrassing. She never wore clothes as a dragon, so she was practically naked most of the time. But the way Loki's eyes travelled over her body, that felt like a whole other kind of exposed. Ashamed, Ljosira tried to cover herself with her hands, but he brushed them away softly.

"Please don't do that.", he said with a deeper voice than his usual.

And then he wrapped one arm around her legs and simply lifted her up, pushing aside the gauze curtains of her bed. Her back touched soft fur and cool silk as he laid her down on the sheets and Loki paused for a long moment, taking in her sight. On the night of the festival, she had been dressed with the sun, but now she looked like a goddess of the moon, silver and white and aglow with its soft, pale light. He leaned over her to kiss the hollow of her throat, and his hands, no longer restricted, suddenly seemed to be everywhere at once.

And the question from long ago was answered: His fingers were just as skilful on her bare skin as they were with weaving enchantments. They moved over her shoulders, down her arms and chest, cupping a breast and running a thumb along the cusp, and her breathing became shallow. She could feel a yearning heat build between her legs, and she was no longer satisfied with only his hands. The problem was, Ljosira had no idea how to undress him. She hadn't even mastered women's clothing, and when she fumbled around for the same laces or straps on Loki's leather tunic, there wasn't a single one to be found. It was maddening.

"Help me…", she muttered a little desperately. There was a low, dark chuckle before he led her hand to a… well she didn't know what exactly it was, some arrangement of clasps.

"Here.", he whispered softly. As soon as she had opened them, he just slipped right out of the confining cloth and threw it aside. But before he could lean down again, she stopped him with a hand against his muscular shoulder.

"That other thing too.", she said, pointing at the pants. Loki raised his eyebrows in surprise, but he obeyed. She watched him pull off his pants and boots and he reminded her of a panther, less broad and forceful than a lion, but slender and dexterous, with cunning grace. As strange as it may have seemed, Ljosira had until then never seen a man naked – at least not up close like this. But she didn't have much time to be shocked or amazed at the clear sign of arousal between his thighs, because the next she knew, he was above her and she felt his whole weight, his skin along the entire length of her body.

Their kisses turned more urgent, the touches more frantic and pleading. He was losing self-control rapidly, ounce by ounce; the thought of being one with her was driving him mad. Some far away, small voice told him to go slower, but he cursed it away. When he hooked his finger into the last bit of cloth separating him from her, she protested feebly.

"Loki… Wait…", she mumbled into his mouth, but she did nothing to stop him.

"If I wait any longer… I'll turn to stone.", Loki said in a hoarse voice. Ljosira's hand swished through the air and the lock on her door bolted, right in time. Coherent thinking was eradicated as his hand slipped between her legs and touched her right at the centre of the heat, drawing an urgent sound from her lips. And then his hand was gone and something hard and smooth replaced it, pressing its way forward relentlessly. She opened her mouth to object, because surely this wasn't right, this wasn't supposed to hurt. But he seemed to be somewhere else, his face tense with concentration. She felt too good. Unable to contain himself, his hips gave a powerful thrust and he buried himself entirely in her.

Ljosira's sharp cry of pain made him stop short and freeze instantly, the realization hitting him like a hammer. _A maiden. Of course she was a maiden, you fool!_ Loki opened his eyes and the hurt expression on her face made his heart wrench. He bent down and showered her eyes, her cheeks, her lips with the lightest kisses, exceedingly gentle like feathers.

"I'm sorry…" He sounded alarmed, but Ljosira shook her head, overwhelmed by his tenderness. Even though the feel of her, warm and tight around him, was making it nearly impossible to stay still, he settled his forehead against hers and took a deep breath, giving her time to get used to this new sensation. The way she wiggled beneath him, adjusted her legs to both his sides, ran her hands along his back… it didn't help at all. She grazed the creases of concentration on his face with her lips, muttering words of affection, and it was encouragement enough.

Loki started to move, slowly and carefully at first, like small waves hitting a bank of sand. She felt the pain subside, being replaced by a growing, hungering flame that set her body on fire and made her breaths come in short gasps. His caution faltered when she wrapped her legs around him, kissing him with such passion that a low growl rose from his chest and his pace quickened. She didn't just feel inexplicably good, she felt _right_, as though made for him only, to fit him perfectly.

"I won't last…", he managed to mumble breathlessly. Before Ljosira could wonder what he meant, she was caught in the waves of pleasure and carried away, her back arching to meet his thrusts. They were becoming more erratic now, his movements less coordinated and rather purely instinctive, falling into a natural rhythm. A hand found one of hers between the sheets and their fingers intertwined at once. His brow was still pressed against hers, his lips muttering her name between senseless words, but then, with a forceful push, she tumbled over some invisible edge and fell, fell into a world bursting from blinding light.

Through this haze, she felt Loki's whole body tense and shudder uncontrollably, heard a loud moan escape his throat and she sensed the life-bond with no distance, no barriers, not an inch of air between them. In these few short seconds it was not a thread leading from him to her, but a single being, and she was as close to him as two individuals could ever get. Ljosira doubted she would be able to put it into words.

The strain left his muscles and he relaxed, sinking onto her with his full weight while his breathing slowly returned to normal. He opened his eyes and there was such gentleness in them that her already exhausted heart made a funny little leap.

"It has been too long…", Loki whispered, sounding apologetic as he planted a lazy kiss into the corner of her mouth.

"What do you mean?", she asked innocently, brow furrowed. He couldn't hold back a low laugh at her naivety.

"I'll show you next time.", he promised and relieved her of his weight. With his warmth gone, she shivered slightly, but Loki pulled a blanket free and covered them both, leaving his hand lying on her side tenderly. Ljosira turned to face him, her features still illuminated by the moonlight. She looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her, tired and fulfilled on the verge of sleep, but it was a good, comfortable kind of fatigue.

"Does it usually feel like this?" Her voice was curious. This was all completely new to her, and she was still trying to grasp the extent of it.

"Yes… and no.", Loki answered with an enigmatic smile, which made her eyebrows knit. "It's not typically this… intense.", he then said more seriously.

He wasn't used to talk afterwards, and when she nuzzled a little closer to his bare shoulder, he found that he felt strangely at peace with her there. For the first time in years, there were no plans forming in his mind, no driving anger in his soul, no whisper pushing him to prove his worth. When he'd been free, the darkness of the night had meant ambivalent solitude. Working and reading had been comfortable, more quiet at night, when everything was blanketed with silence and shadows like the person he showed to the outside world. But it also meant being painfully aware of how alone he truly was, because in the darkness, doubts came much easier and weighed much heavier.

Now he was holding a source of light in his arms, soothing and soft, breaking through the heavy walls and prompting his heart to dance. He knew that it was dangerous, that it made him vulnerable, but after all this time of loneliness… after everything he'd tried into the opposite direction had failed… after feeling as though he'd never belong… It was like fighting against a raging storm that went on and on, until the thunderous currents and the drenching rain were all he ever knew, there had been nothing else. He had arrived in the eye of the storm. Calm, utterly silent. It was an exceptionally odd thing to get used to.

"You look like you are in deep thought.", Ljosira said softly. He blinked, returning to reality.

"What makes you think so?", he asked in a playful sort of way. She smiled and reached up a hand to run her fingers across his forehead.

"Your brow… it creases slightly when your mind is occupied.", she replied.

"And how long have you known this secret?", Loki inquired, sounding mildly curious.

"Since the day we first met. You looked like that when you caught me on the terrace." A hint of amusement passed through her eyes before she continued more earnestly, "But I would love to know… Where were you, just now, in your thoughts?"

"I was in a storm." Now it was her turn to have creases on her brow.

"And are you still?", she asked in a slightly worried tone. Loki rose a little from the sheets and bent down to her. Before he kissed her, Ljosira heard him say quietly, "No. Not anymore."


	14. Visits

_Author's Note: My dear followers, I'd like to thank you for your reviews about the last two chapters! I really am more motivated to keep this going because of your positive feedback. I have now arrived at the end of my queue, so everything from here will be freshly written, therefore I may need more time for updates. After a lot of happenings in the story during the last few chapters, this is a little more "calm", but it may have a few hints that there are still things to come. But for now, the two fresh lovebirds may as well enjoy themselves a little :) _

* * *

Bright sunlight was falling through the curtains of her four-poster bed when Ljosira woke from a strange dream. She had been playing with her eldest brother, the crown prince Vegr, down at the roots of Yggdrasil. A forceful wind had swept her around and she wanted to land and steady herself, but the roots distorted and turned into the barren wasteland of the Chitauri quarantine, Vegr morphed into Natta, whose claws grabbed her and spun her around and around… Ljosira blinked.

The dream was fading quickly until she remembered only a feeling of dizziness. With a start, she realized that Loki was not by her side anymore. For a moment, she wondered if the happenings of last night had been a dream too, but the state of her body told her very clearly that it had been real. Muscles and joints were stiff and strained, the skin covering them feeling a little raw. And there was the fact that she was stark naked. Unseen by anyone, a grin spread across her face. She slipped out of the bed and glimpsed the robe she'd worn the night before, draped neatly over the back of a chair.

A faint hint of his scent lingered in the air as she walked to the dresser with the intention of disentangling the mess Loki had made of her hair. Still in a slight haze, Ljosira's almost missed the small black box lying on the glass surface. Her eyes darted back to it. A note written in elegant script was pushed underneath, which she now pulled free.

_"I might not have all the riches in the world, but this reminded me of what you looked like last night. Imagine the guard's face when I asked him to have it fetched from the vaults. Always the tone of surprise. Maybe if you wear this tonight at the spring festival, I will be distracted from the accusing stares people have grown so fond of giving me. I shall attend. Under heavy guard, needless to say."_

There was no signature, but there was no point in one anyway. Loki's presence was so fresh on the note, she didn't even need to use her sight. Ljosira put the note aside and ran her fingers across the lacquered wood, before she picked up the box and opened it. Her heart skipped a beat.

Inside was a stunning necklace, a work of art that even outshone her festival dress. Made from white gold, it was lighter and had more purity than silver. From a dozen chains no thicker than a thread it swirled into otherworldly flowers. The smallest pearls sat on their petals like drops of dew and in each of their masterfully crafted hearts lay a milky gemstone, a kind she hadn't seen before.

But what captured her attention was the flawless, light blue diamond in the centre. It looked like a tiny star. Ljosira touched the burnished surface curiously. What incredibly precise handiwork it must have taken to create something like this. She smiled because she knew Loki had chosen it for a reason. He had been observant about her love for detail in craftsmanship. Yes, she would definitely wear this to the spring festival.

A knock on the door startled her and she hurried to soothe the confused maid, who had noticed the bolted lock. They were not used to being locked out, but then again, they didn't know what had happened in her chambers last night… Hopefully they would take her being wrapped into nothing but a sheet as an act of eccentricity.

Ljosira's mind was wandering off while the maids brought her bathwater and flung an assortment of dresses over stands from which she would choose one for the festival. Her father's words rang in her ears. _Such things have never brought our people anything but suffering, Ljosira._

But how could something that felt so wonderful bring her suffering? This closeness, these thousand thrills, the countless sensations. Mortals communicated through touch too, but in a completely different way, which she was just starting to understand. There was no deep magic in it, no transmission of thoughts. It was so much simpler, yet so abounded in facets. A warm feeling embraced her heart when she remembered how peaceful Loki had looked.

And for the first time, Ljosira thought that she knew something her father or her siblings did not: She had experienced love, both as a dragon and as a mortal. Who else, in the Nine Realms, on Yggdrasil, could claim such a thing about themselves?

* * *

"You were not here." Thor's voice sounded less accusing than it was amused.

Loki's eyes snapped up from the complicated description of a defence enchantment. Not hat he had been reading it at all, just staring at it blankly while his thoughts were elsewhere. His brother, clad in a much simpler version of his usual armor, strode into his chambers light-footedly and browsed around as though searching for something. Loki set down the quill.

"Beg your pardon?", he said, irritated. Thor fiddled with a book's spine on one of the shelves, pretending to be very interested in it. Then he turned to Loki and there was something explicitly suspicious in his blue eyes.

"Yesterday, I returned from Midgard. You know that father has tasked me with overseeing and helping the rebuilding efforts after… well after we smashed our way through half of Asgard.", he began and Loki was starting to get the feeling that his brother was definitely up to no good. He used this typical ominous tone of voice that usually preceded a punchfest. Or something less peaceful.

"So I have heard…", Loki replied in a drawl.

"And when I returned, I came to visit you.", Thor pointed at him and his eyes narrowed humorously. "You were not here." Loki leaned back in his desk-chair, fingers playing with each other absent-mindedly. He tried to look oblivious, but it seemed to fail miserably.

"Is there a point to your investigation?", he asked in a bored voice.

"There aren't a lot of places where you can _go_, you know. With all the barriers and such…", Thor rubbed his bearded chin, casting a look at the open bedroom door.

"Thor…", Loki warned a little annoyed now. "You are jumping to conc…", but his brother raised his hands apologetically.

"All right, all right, I understand. Forget I ever said anything. But if you need advice in… possible matters of… special interests of womanly nature…" It was likely the most awkward conversation of his life, Loki thought as Thor went on.

"Please just stop talking.", he buried his face in one hand and wished he had stayed with Ljosira this morning instead of having to endure his brother offering uncomfortable advice to him about women. But still, he was just the tiniest bit glad that Thor cared enough to notice these things at all.

"Fine, fine. Actually, I came here for something else, but well… I couldn't help but notice…", his voice trailed away and he seemed distant for a moment. Loki wondered if he thought about Jane. Thor pulled a folded parchment from beneath his armor and handed it to his brother. Loki read it with raised eyebrows, surprised that Thor would seek out his advice about anything.

"The Light Elves of Alfheim report strange occurrences since the Convergence… Parts of forests dying without visible cause… Disturbances in space… Miniature black holes, seriously?", he inquired in an ironic tone. Thor shrugged.

"Yes, that perplexed me too. Would that be possible?" Loki walked over to a bookshelf and started looking through the titles.

"Well… You defeated Malekith but… the Ether penetrated each of the Nine Realms before that." He pulled a small tome out that said '_Phenomena of Spontaneous Sorcery'_ and flipped through the pages. "Residual magic of such a powerful energy source can spawn any number of things. There is nothing in here about miniature black holes, though."

Loki closed the book and looked very lost in thought for a moment. He was sure he had read about black holes a while ago. Something lurked at the edge of his consciousness, but he was unable to grab hold of it. That angered him, because he usually had impeccable memory about books.

"Alfheim warns us to look for such signs in Asgard too. I wasn't sure if it was something to worry about, and since mother…", Thor paused and looked at him with a sad kind of smile. "Well, only you equalled her in magic."

"Why didn't you ask Odin? Or Ljosira.", Loki wondered, although he felt oddly flattered that Thor had chosen his opinion over the Allfather's.

"Father wants nothing to do with the Ether.", his brother answered bitterly. "And Ljosira… She just had her rite of passage. I thought she deserved not to be bothered for a while." There was a moment's silence in which Loki glanced at the report again.

"It says here these disturbances occur in remote places. If we have them too, they would not appear in the city. Rather… in the highlands, probably.", he mused.

"Should we investigate?", asked Thor.

"Well, I think it would not hurt. The shepherds and mountain hunters from the highlands might not recognize disturbances like this.", Loki answered pensively.

"Good. I'll dispatch a small party to see if we can find out more.", Thor nodded, but when Loki handed him the parchment back, he shook his head. "Keep it for now. Maybe you should really ask Ljosira if she knows anything." His brother was already at the door when Loki called after him.

"Why me? You could ask her just as well." But Thor only turned halfway and smiled in a knowing sort of way.

"Why indeed?", he wondered as though talking to himself. "I'll see you at the festival tonight. Look presentable. Jane is coming too." And then he was gone, leaving Loki standing in the middle of his room, baffled, still holding the report in his hand.

* * *

The soft thud on her door made Ljosira stop twisting her back to see if the maids had arranged her clothes properly. Especially today, she didn't want to look dishevelled. Wondering if Loki had decided to pay her a visit before taking her to the festival, she walked to the door. But he usually didn't bother knocking, and surely enough, it was Jane who stood in the hallway, shuffling her feet and looking a little nervous.

"Jane! I did not know you were in Asgard again. Please, come in.", Ljosira smiled and let the young woman into her quarters.

"Thor told me you lived here.", Jane said, her gaze wandering around the exquisite room with amazement. "It's still a lot to take in, everything around here."

"Well, Asgard certainly becomes you.", Ljosira indicated her dress, which was a deep burgundy color made from a heavy sort of silk. The shawl bore a lifelike pattern of gold and brown tree leaves. For the sake of her necklace, Ljosira had chosen something subtle: Light steel blue, her own robe was embroidered with a simple motif of ocean waves rippling against slate grey cliffs, where they shattered into silver spray.

"Thank you… Actually, I… I wanted to apologize for causing you pain when I was here the last time.", Jane began, her expression regretful. Ljosira put up a hand to stop her.

"It was not your fault, Jane.", she said firmly, but the woman next to her looked even more miserable when she spoke again.

"But the queen..." Putting her hand on Jane's back, Ljosira led her to sit on one of the sofas in front of the heating pan.

"The queen…", she sighed, "…was a woman whose love and courage never faltered. She died defending what was most important to her. Home, family… Such an act does not go unnoticed by the fabric of eternity." Above the heating pan appeared a band of stars, the very branch of Yggdrasil that overlooked Asgard's sky. Inside its heart a beautiful constellation glowed with soft warmth, cradled by shifting, sea green clouds of cosmic dust.

"The Allfather painted her image into the stars, carved it into the world tree's bark, and my father makes sure that it never fades. She will be there until the end of days, watching over Asgard… and her sons. Probably frowning at their quarrel, which too, seems never-ending.", Ljosira explained, her brow furrowed in irony, and Jane laughed lightly.

"We cannot stop now. It's too much fun.", Loki's voice made them both flinch. At the sight of him in his full ceremonial garb, the hint of mockery in his smile and the secretive way he'd appeared out of thin air, Jane was on her feet at once, looking alarmed.

"What is _he_ doing here?", she asked warily. Ljosira rose and Loki could see a hint of reproach in her eyes although her face had lit up when she'd seen him.

"What he usually likes to do – sneaking up on people without announcing himself.", she scolded, but it lacked real severity.

"Shouldn't he be in prison? Wait – shouldn't he be _dead_?" Jane made no effort to make her words sound less insulting.

"Someone here is surely not getting a prize for niceness." Loki chuckled sarcastically, but he fell silent when Ljosira threw him a warning look.

"It is a long story, albeit thrilling. Maybe I'll tell you over a glass of wine tonight. Would you excuse us?", she then said apologetically. Jane broke her stare at Loki and blinked.

"Oh, of course… I should go find Thor anyway." A little faster than necessary, she took her leave, closing the door behind her. Not a second later a strong arm had wrapped around Ljosira and a smiling pair of lips descended on hers. When they parted again, slightly breathless, her expression was half-amused, half-accusing.

"You scared her…" Loki traced the neckline of her gown innocently.

"That was just a little good-natured roguery.", he replied with a spark dancing in his emerald eyes. As he leaned down to kiss her collarbone, he felt her voice resonate in her chest.

"By definition, those two terms contradict each other.", Ljosira said, getting increasingly distracted. "Are you listening?", she tried to muster come concentration. He lifted his head and smiled like someone who couldn't hurt a fly.

"No.", he admitted honestly. "I didn't see you all day… When I looked around midday you were already gone, and now I have some catching up to do…" But he let her go reluctantly, knowing the strips of metal on his clothes could hurt her.

"Well… You weren't here when I woke up, and I thought maybe you needed a little soul-searching after… last night.", Ljosira began, "So I went to see construction sites." Loki's eyebrows went up.

"Didn't you get my message?", he wondered, his fingers touching the slight recess right below her throat.

"Of course I did…", she replied, confused. He tilted his head.

"But you are not wearing it…", Loki mused, sounding disappointed. To this, Ljosira smiled in a light-hearted way and turned away, walking to her dresser. She faced the large mirror trimmed with gold and silver flowers and beckoned him over.

"I can't see behind my back, remember?" His expression softened immediately and he followed to pick up the necklace from the open box. There was a moment of silence while Loki gingerly put it around her neck and she watched once more with astonishment how effortlessly he handled the complicated lock contraption. After fiddling with it for twenty minutes, she had given up, and he had done it just like that.

"You know…", he said, a slight smirk on his lips, "…you could have used an enchantment." Ljosira eyed him in the mirror.

"Would you prefer an enchantment over this?", she played innocent.

"No. This way I get to see what excellent a choice I made. It suits you perfectly.", he replied and her cheeks turned slightly pink. The light blue diamond seemed to twinkle in agreement.

"So…" Loki gently turned her around by the shoulders, his eyes a little more serious. "Shall we see how Asgard takes my return into society?"

Before they left for the festival side by side, they both looked up at the night sky, where the first stars started to peek through the fading veil of dusk, a faint sea green ribbon winding between them like the cloak of a goddess.


	15. Doubt and Certainty

_AN: Well this scene turned out longer than it was supposed to, but I somehow liked the way things unfolded and so I kept going with it XD. Also I found the suggestion of exploring Loki's thoughts about his mother's memory a little further a good idea. I always thought that the most striking reason for his conflicted behavior was the fact that he sees himself as an outcast. He is on a constant journey to find a place where he belongs, but he seems to use the wrong approach all the time. I think in his "not"-family, Frigga was the only one who he saw as some kind of anchor, and that's why he finds it so hard to let go. _

* * *

The homeland of the Aesir probably had more paradisiacal places than any other realm, but its palace gardens were an unrivalled beauty, and each inhabitant would have agreed to that. Rows and rows of hedges, carefully trimmed and now foliating in hundred shades of green, curled through the patches of meadow. Trees that ranged from gigantic to tinier than knee-tall grew between them. It was so said that every kind of plant found on Asgard had one sister in these gardens. Small hills rose to overlook peaceful little ponds and everything was in radiant bloom, for spring had come.

Each part of the gardens had its own magic and came with an escort of matching buildings: The queen's rose-bushes were a place to sit quietly inside one of the ivy-covered pavilions and enjoy the many colors one single flower could produce. In the hedge-mazes, one could get lost between green archways or rest beneath the cool leaf-dome at its centre on a hot day. But, after all, the tree garden was the best place for a feast. A dozen raised platforms had been built here, each partially supported by one of the trees. None of them had been harmed during construction – a symbiotic kind of magic kept them safe and in place, showing how much Asgardians valued nature. The platforms were roofed, but lacked any walls or windows, and they were brimming with people. Sitting on cushions or wooden benches, eating at low-rise tables that creaked from the weight of delicacies and wine. Light came from hundreds of milky spheres attached to the posts or simply perched onto metal stands.

Loki and Ljosira were walking along a pebble-strewn path. Strollers who passed them by or glimpsed them from the rose-gardens to the right usually couldn't hold back a suspicious look at him. Most of them managed a stiff nod to acknowledge his presence and a much friendlier bow to his companion. Two elite guards followed behind, looking stern with their full golden armor and rigid expressions.

Loki fiddled with the sleeves of his cloak uncomfortably, as though the actual cloth was what caused the confining feeling. But the real reason was the magical tie keeping his sorcery dormant, and that could not be loosened by ripping at the fabric. Ljosira found that since they had left the privacy of her quarters, Loki'd been growing increasingly silent and glum. The sharp line of his jaw was tense and he kept looking past people as though they weren't even worth a glimpse, his fingers frequently moving to his wrists. When whatever he tried to do there did not work, his eyes filled with frustration. After a while, Ljosira couldn't take it anymore and stopped short so suddenly one of the guards almost collided with her.

"Loki… Is something wrong?", she asked quietly. Instead of answering, Loki gave the guards a cursing stare, but she understood.

"Could you watch him from here? I would like to see the rose-bushes and there's really not enough space for us all in a pavilion…", she addressed the guards in an innocent tone of voice. They exchanged a quick look and then proceeded to watch her warily.

"All right.", one of them said. Ljosira tugged Loki's arm gently and led him over a narrow pathway that parted from the main lane. Bushes with reddish, spiky leaves grew waist-high and the scent of roses filled the air. Their blooms in countless colors, their silken petals shivered slightly in the breeze. Ljosira sat down on a marble bench inside a pavilion. Its frame was overgrown by a sort of climbing shrubbery. Seeing the tiny white flowers brought childhood memories to his mind and Loki reached up, running his fingers along the polished, white wood.

* * *

"_Where have you gone, little trickster?", Frigga's voice sounded through the hot summer air. Radiant sunshine fell through the leaves of the climbing roses and Loki scuttled further under the marble bench. He was exceptionally good at hide and seek, being both small and agile enough to fit into every nook and cranny, which came in handy when his bigger brother chased him through the chambers, followed by a horde of his friends. _

_Jagged shadows danced on his small hands as he pushed the bushes aside, peeking through the pavilion's frame. Frigga strode along the hedges, looking around curiously. She cast a quick glance over his hiding place and he slid the leaves back swiftly. Her footsteps grew more distant and a triumphant smile spread on his childish features, for he was sure he had found the perfect spot. But suddenly the seam of a billowing robe appeared at the pavilion entrance. _

"_Well, where might he be? Not here, it seems…", Frigga mused in a playful tone and turned to leave again. Loki almost let out a sigh of relief. At the last moment, his mother spun around and bowed down. He flinched and tried to cast an illusion over himself, but he was just starting to learn about sorcery and didn't have nearly enough concentration to muster such a complicated spell, so all his hands did was flicker feebly. Frigga's face came into view, a wide smile on her lips. _

"_Found you.", she teased her son, who wailed with frustration of having lost the game and crawled out of his hiding place. _

"_That was unfair!", he complained when his mother flung an arm around his tiny waist and lifted him into the air as though he didn't weigh a thing. She spun him around once, twice, and a third time, until his short black hair fell to his juvenile face. _

"_Come on Mother, stop! You won, you won!", Loki pleaded her, now unable to hold back a light laugh. Frigga set him down on his feet again and moved to sit on the marble bench under which he was hiding before. _

"_I almost didn't catch you there between the bushes, my clever little rogue.", she said softly, ruffling his hair even more. He hastily pushed it into some kind of order again. "We should go back to the palace soon. You have a history lesson today, remember?", her voice was a little stricter now. Loki grumbled moodily. _

"_I don't like the scholar… Thor gets the dates wrong all the time, and he is never scolded! But when I forget just one little thing…", he folded his arms in a gesture of defiance. _

"_You and your brother have different strengths. Your teachers have been instructed to challenge you in these strengths. That is why he points out your mistakes more, so you can strive to learn better.", Frigga explained in a calm voice. Since his mother did not budge, he tried another approach – begging. _

"_But it's such a beautiful day… Just one story and we'll go. Please?" His green eyes were wide and pleading, a look that never failed to soften his mother's heart. And Loki was right – it was a truly beautiful day. The sky was its brightest blue and utterly cloudless. The air carried a light breeze that made the leaves of the rose-bushes emit a soft rustling sound, and sitting in their shadows was cooling. _

"_All right.", Frigga said, her gentle features alive with the dancing flickers of sunlight. "One story." _

* * *

As he returned from this old, unburdened memory, Loki looked down at the same spot in which he had been sitting with his mother many years ago. Instead of a hot summer day, it was now a warm spring night, and Ljosira was gazing at him silently. This day seemed to be filled with reminders of his mother. First he had listened to Ljosira telling Jane about her. About the constellation in the sky the Allfather had created in remembrance of his beloved wife.

Loki wished that he could feel her presence, feel her watching over him, but whenever he tried to think about the past as a lasting, soothing memory, he was overcome by a vast emptiness, a gaping hole in which the only thought he could muster was that he would never, ever, see his mother smile again. He would never be able to tell her about Ljosira, for she would have been the one person he would've confided in. If he had ever wanted a lie to be true, then it was to believe she had been his true mother. Because deep in his heart, he knew that she would have protected him from the accusing looks, from the Allfather's rejection and contempt. Her unfaltering hope in him had been the only reason to still call this place home.

"Loki… Don't you want to tell me why you are standing there like a statue since… Well, it has been a while now.", Ljosira said quietly. She didn't sound impatient or pressing, just a little worried. Loki sighed and sat down beside her.

"Have you ever felt… like an outcast? Everywhere I go… I end up an exile. Look at them.", he pointed at the two guards some distance away, who were still watching him with stern, cautious expressions. "They are looking at me as though I might attack you any second. They refused to let you into my prison without emphasis on how deranged I am!" He sprang to his feet abruptly and prowled around, angry. Ljosira's eyes didn't leave his figure and her voice was firm.

"You are _not_ deranged. I know that. But they… you have to give them time to understand.", she tried to reason.

"And who will _make _them understand? Evidently they will not believe _me_, the prince of lies, the trickster, the madman. You persuaded the council and my brother, but the Allfather? He still despises me, and so does all of Asgard! Who in this forsaken realm is still on my side?", his voice rose as he spoke, not to a yell, but it grew strained with agitation. Ljosira stood and stretched out her arms to calm him, but Loki backed away from her and down the stairs, his expression a strange mix of pain and fury.

"The only family I have ever known is _there_!" And he pointed into the sky, where the star band of Frigga's constellation was now in full view. "I don't feel it, Ljosira. I feel eyes watching me, and they are all hateful. None of them are hers." Loki let his hand sink weakly. For a long moment, Ljosira looked at him and her gaze was full of remorse.

"Because you are trying so hard to distance yourself from every inch of solace, you have practically mastered the art of twisting the positive into the negative. You wear it like an impenetrable shield." She shook her head in frustration.

"You see the Allfather and you see nothing but contempt. But you are blind to the hurt behind it, to the loss and guilt. You see your brother's superiority, but you have never seen the defeat in his eyes, the pain you cause him with your hatred. And you see your mother, gone from this world, passed away, but not all the things she has left behind… in you." His expression softened and his posture lost a bit of its previous tension.

"What did she leave behind?", Loki asked, his deep green eyes bearing a defeated look.

But this time, he didn't back off when she reached for his hand, taking it into both of her own. Thin bands of light appeared above his palm, forming the outlines of a flower, and he felt the magical shackles be lifted just the tiniest bit. A short moment later, he had completed the enchantment and shaped it into the illusion of a perfect white rose. This was a little game the two of them liked to play since his days in the prison. Ljosira would give him the mere contours of an object and he would have to recreate a full, realistic image of it.

"Magic.", she answered his question with a slight smile at the illusion. "Cunning. Temperament. Your love for riddles and books. The way you scrutinize people." Loki frowned a little, and she noticed that he was suppressing a smirk.

"Yes, just like that!", Ljosira said, glad that his anger hadn't overcome him. But he still looked sullen, letting out a sigh.

"I appreciate your kindness… I really do.", Loki began, his long fingers playing with hers absent-mindedly. "But maybe I should not be here. I better return to the palace." Ljosira's expression turned from seriousness to disappointment and he immediately regretted his words, seeing the light in her eyes dull at the thought of him leaving.

"Please stay. Everyone will be looking at my terrible dancing skills anyway. Nobody is going to look at you." His lips twitched again and he seemed to be conflicted, judging from the way his eyes kept darting between the guards and her face.

"It… it is not the same without you.", she said very quietly. This actually made Loki smile and his decision faltered.

"I find it impossible to say no to that.", he replied. When they rejoined the guards on the path, he had already composed himself back to his look of mild indifference. At least one person in the realm did not view him with open denial. And what had he been doing all these past weeks, if not drawing strength from her resolve? Harnessing her light, her very life-force through the bond they shared, trying to fill the yawning chasm of nothingness in his soul.

He realized that Ljosira had never, not once, turned her back on him. Through the madness on Midgard and the rejection in the prison, and against all his attempts to keep her away, she had stood unimpressed. For some time, Loki, as most people, had thought her genuine concern was due to the life-bond and its protective purpose. But what was the life-bond really, if not a magical representation of a completely real connection between them? Could it truly be separated from emotions, standing alone and unaffected? If yes, he had passed the point of being able to distinguish it long ago and it was now intertwined with his being, much like a fibre woven into a piece of fabric.

Loki knew, undeniably and horrifyingly, that he had crossed a boundary and it was only a matter of time before he would have to pay the price. The dragons may have accepted the life-bond with reluctance, since there was nothing they could do to change it. But what was happening between him and Ljosira now was a whole other thing. _If you step one toe out of line, mortal, _Natta's dark, velvet voice curled through his thoughts.

As Ljosira climbed the steps to the great platform where the royal family and guests greeted her with cheers and waves, she turned and smiled at him, light-hearted, joyful. And Loki felt something only a person who loved earnestly was capable of feeling: Behind his affection there stirred a primal fear of loss. Fear that he had condemned her to a terrible fate, that it would be his and his fault only if she got hurt. All he could do was to hope. That the damage would not be irreparable. That somehow, miraculously, he would be able to protect her the way she had protected him.


	16. Conscience

_Author's Note: Hello again and sorry for not updating sooner, I had a little diversion from writing because I started to watch Revenge and somehow couldn't stop XD. But now I finished this chapter. It's a long one and has basically a little from everything - jokes, cheesy romantic things, hints to legends that will play a role later, some sexy stuff and hopefully a little suspense at the end~ I liked writing my own version of Mjölnir's creation and I tried to make it sound like a legend, similar to mythology itself. As always, I hope you like it and enjoy reading. :) _

* * *

"Ljosira, at last! I was starting to wonder if I should send out a search party.", Thor laughed and pulled the dragon princess into a warm hug. He had risen from his seat at her sight and Jane was right beside him, looking as though she couldn't quite believe the scenery around her.

"I just had to take a look at the rose-bushes. They are incredible.", Ljosira answered with a smile.

"Did you know that Thor once demolished half of them?", Volstagg appeared, a goblet of wine in his hand and a wide grin peeking through his thick beard. Thor gave him a good-natured push of his elbow, but the warrior only huffed and went on. "Right after he got Mjölnir, he boasted around without shame. '_Watch the might of thunder!_', he called and threw the hammer out the terrace." But he was interrupted by Fandral, whose teeth shone white from his dazzling smile.

"And instead of flying, it crashed…", he demonstrated Thor's embarrassing first attempt with a high whistling noise, exaggerating wildly and making the crown prince grunt. "Like a dead bird, right into the queen's beautiful rose-garden. She was furious."

Volstagg nodded forcefully. "Ah yes… Heavens grant her rest.", he said, taking a sip of his wine. Then he noticed Loki, standing a little apart from Ljosira with his hands folded behind his back. "Having a night out too, Loki? Confinement has made you no less… shifty, I see."

"Give the man a break, Volstagg. He hasn't been to a feast in a year – that is practically a crime in Asgard!", Fandral joked in his usual airy tone. Nothing could dampen this man's mood. Thor put a hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed it, which startled Loki from his strict gaze.

"Right. He has permission to be here tonight.", he emphasized, silencing all possible protest. "Come on. Let us get you a drink, brother." The two of them walked away while Fandral and Volstagg returned to their seats at the table, leaving Ljosira with Jane, who was still beaming.

"Your necklace is stunning. I have never seen anything like it on Earth.", the Midgardian said and Ljosira turned her gaze from the princes' silhouettes to face her.

"Thank you… It was a suggestion.", she replied as a maid handed her a goblet of wine. It smelled rich with spices and she tasted honey when she took a sip.

"I guess I know whose. You weren't very surprised when he showed up today so suddenly. And… you don't seem to be worried around him. Most people I talk to think he's dangerous.", Jane mused, looking at Loki and Thor as they talked beneath a lamp stand at the edge of the platform. "Except Thor.", she then added.

"What does the crown prince think?", Ljosira inquired, inclining her head.

"I think he misses his brother. And is searching for some kind of… olive branch.", Jane said thoughtfully. They both fell silent for a while. Two long rows of tables spanned half of the platform's length, which Ljosira thought to be immense in size. At the far end, the other half was left open for people to stand, dance and walk around. The soft tunes of a lyre mixed with a cheerful flute and the sound of drums, creating a melody that made some of the guests sing along with their goblets held high. Volstagg hummed in his deep bass, while Fandral pulled a beautiful blonde woman to her feet and spun her around to the music.

"If you don't mind me asking… When I met you the first time Thor said you were here to evaluate Loki for trial. He told me it was a task for a… coming of age?", Jane brought her attention back to the conversation. Ljosira explained the terms of the rite of passage and its significance to her, while the young woman listened intently.

"So what exactly happens to you when you… grow up?", she asked afterwards.

"Many of my brothers and dragons from the other flights assemble. Together with my father, they create a bridge – a pathway where their knowledge falls from the sky like rain. A million points of light. The one who takes the rite has to cross the bridge. When we have absorbed the knowledge of our ancestors, we consider ourselves capable of protecting Yggdrasil… and the bonds we have made through life."

Ljosira could not stop her eyes from darting to Loki, who approached them together with Thor, listening intently. His face was a little more relaxed than before and his movements were less wooden, but Jane still didn't seem to be comfortable with his proximity. She was looking at him as though he was some treacherous animal ready to pounce as soon as it was not watched. Loki smiled wryly. Thor on the other hand was positively radiant with good mood as he handed Jane a new goblet.

"Would it be terrible if I asked the dragon lady to dance?", he said with an apologetic expression, but the young woman shook her head. She knew that Thor had trusted Ljosira with his plan of treason during the war against Malekith and more importantly, had shared his thoughts about his brother with her. The rejection pained him more than he admitted, and even though they seemed to be growing closer again after the events in the Dark World, it felt like a very fragile kind of peace. After so many years of their relationship had turned out to be a fabrication, a lie… Neither seemed to know how to treat the other.

When Thor took Ljosira's hand and led her to the other side of the platform where people danced and swayed to the music, Loki's posture stiffened a little. He had liked the time when he had basically been the only mortal allowed to touch her much better. But as he watched how his brother struggled to keep Ljosira's steps in rhythm, sometimes even lifting her off her feet a little because she was about to trip, he couldn't help but smile. She really was a horrible dancer. Her movements had always looked out of place and just the tiniest bit artificial – as though she had learned them from descriptions in a book – and even Thor's best attempts didn't make her less clumsy.

"I am… truly sorry.", Ljosira hissed through gritted teeth after she'd trampled the crown prince's toes for the fifth time. Thor, who was very amused by her embarrassment, spun her around when the melody rose to a faster pace, trying not to laugh at the way her eyes widened.

"I don't have the faintest idea what you mean.", he replied and picked her up so she didn't have to watch her steps, floating an inch above the ground. Then he slowed down a little for her sake.

"Clearly you chose the wrong partner for a dance…", she mumbled ruefully. It was very hard to display grace when one was not used to a body with so many odd degrees of freedom. Ljosira had learned a lot of things about her mortal body, but dancing required the rhythmic coordination of two sets of feet, in addition to some fine motor skills a dragon normally didn't need. Grace came with flying – that she knew very well how to do – but on the ground, with these limbs?

"That may be true. On a different note… Even though my brother looks like he'll skewer me if I occupy you much longer, I needed to get you away from him for a moment.", Thor said in a lower voice, almost a whisper. Ljosira's eyes flickered to his and she recognized the same expression he had worn when he'd found her in Loki's bedroom. That strange synergy of concern and bafflement.

"Have you told him?", he continued. She didn't have to ask what Thor meant. There was only one secret she was still keeping from Loki. One thing she had been unable to confess to him because she feared, more than anything, that it could separate him from her. Ljosira shook her head and a glint of sorrow flashed across her cheerful face. The prince spun her around slowly once more, sighing.

"He deserves to know. I doubted that after all, I would say this about my brother, but I believe it is true.", Thor said firmly.

"What is?" Loki walked up to them with a deceivingly innocent expression just as the musicians fell silent at the end of the song. Coming to a halt and letting Ljosira go, Thor straightened to face him.

"That from the two of us, you might just be the better dancer.", he answered and gave Loki a pat on the back before he made his way back to Jane through the crowd.

Ljosira still seemed a little rattled when the next melody began and his arm slid around her waist. A familiar hand found hers while the other gave precise directions at the small of her back. Dancing with him was a very different thing to dancing with Thor, she realized as Loki guided her over the floor. It was still very far from skilful or elegant, but she knew the way he moved, probably better than anyone else. Rather than thinking about every motion, she could simply let intuition take over her steps and soon Ljosira was having so much fun that her self-consciousness and Thor's words were forgotten. A sudden twist in the song made Loki let go of her in mid-twirl, and before she could react she felt his hands close around her waist and she was airborne for real this time, spinning over the heads of the guests. It was exhilarating.

"You look happy.", Loki noted with a pleased voice after he had set her down again and the song had come to an end. He was no cheerful person even on his best days, but Ljosira could tell by the wrinkles around his eyes when his smile was genuinely delighted, and right now it was. She returned it.

"I am. Dancing is much like flying." They went back to the table, at which Volstagg seemed to be in the middle of a heroic tale. A small girl sat on his lap and kept pulling the braids in his beard while the young boy on his right listened with awe.

"If done properly, sure…", Loki said, taking a seat next to Ljosira and nodding at the children who bowed before the two of them respectfully.

"Ah, Janna, look who's here! I told you about the dragon lady, remember? She can tell you the story much better, because she was there to witness it.", Volstagg explained, untangling his beard from her hands. Ljosira tilted her head and looked at the red-haired girl. Children's auras were one of the most beautiful things in the world. Utterly pure, untainted by complicated feelings of pride or retribution, for they have not come to understand such things yet. Like fresh white parchment.

"Which story would she want to hear?", Ljosira asked as Janna smiled shyly at her.

"Oh, she always asks about how Mjölnir was created.", Volstagg answered and tickled his daughter, which made her giggle.

"I would love to show you. Watch closely…", the dragon princess lifted her hands and a magical copy of Mjölnir appeared above the feast table. The children marvelled at it with open mouths, and Ljosira began her story. Loki leaned back, letting her singsong voice and the shifting images take him back in time. He had always enjoyed her stories, the way she re-enacted them being one of the things that always calmed and relaxed him. This one, even he hadn't heard before.

A thousand years ago, Odin and Frigga were given a wonderful blessing – a son, the first-born and crown prince of Asgard, would be born to them. All across the realms, this news was a cause of celebration and everyone awaited the arrival of Thor – the Thundering, as he would be called. For on the night of his birth, as though forecasting his strength and leadership, thunder rained from the skies endlessly. Even on Yggdrasil, where the mighty dragon clans stood sentinel over the Nine Realms, his arrival was viewed with benevolence. The Aesir had been favoured by Elding the Dragon King ever since their alliance in the Dark Days, and so, as a reminder of friendship and mutual respect, he decided to present the new crown prince with a gift fitting for a future king.

Three powers, Ljosira explained while she called forth each of them with her magic, are needed to create a weapon as formidable and mighty as Mjölnir. The metal from which it is made has to be taken from each of the Nine Realms, therefore making it equally strong in all of them. Then, to imbue it with resilience, it has to be forged under extreme conditions – like immense heat or crushing pressure – so it may never lose its power, not even in times of great adversity. And lastly, the weapon needs to be tempered with the fiery breath of a dragon. Only such a powerful magical energy was capable of giving it unique characteristics. Elding's fire granted the hammer power to manipulate lightning, never to miss its target, and always to return to its master.

Mjölnir was created with these three ingredients – inside the heart of the massive, hot star Alcyone. By now a considerable amount of guests had gathered around their table and watched the image of Alcyone, its blue-ish white surface surging with the raw heat of its dying energy supply.

"A blue giant.", Jane said with an excited voice. "In the last stages of his life. It must be about two-thousand times more luminous than our sun!" Everyone turned to look at her blankly, but Ljosira smiled and nodded.

"Forging Mjölnir took two decades. And after he had finished his work, the Dragon King came to Asgard and presented the Allfather with the hammer. Odin was impressed. To show his gratitude to Elding, he added one last quality to the weapon, making sure that the gift was honoured properly: He enchanted Mjölnir so nobody except Thor would ever be able to wield it. Even I could not move it an inch if I wanted to.", Ljosira finished her story. As the images above the table dissolved and the people scattered again, she saw Janna rushing towards Thor, who had listened from further away. He laughed airily when a few other children joined her, all begging for a demonstration of Mjölnir's powers. Ljosira turned to Loki, whose expression was something between annoyed and intrigued.

"You certainly know how to put my brother into the spotlight.", he noted in a harsher tone than he intended to.

"The children asked for this story, Loki…", she said, sounding hurt. Regretting his words, he slipped his hand under the table to find hers. Unseen by the other guests, their fingers intertwined.

"I know… But it seems everyone is bent on stealing away your attention tonight, and I don't know how much longer I'm willing to let them.", he dropped his voice to a whisper and there was a playful glint in his eyes that sent a small shiver down her spine.

Hours of dancing, singing and tasting countless delicacies later, the guests had eased from their formal behaviour into a much more boisterous mood, the laughter and cheer ringing out into the fresh spring air around the gardens. Still, Ljosira hadn't failed to notice the absence of both Odin and the Lady Sif. Probably the gardens reminded the Allfather of Frigga too much, or maybe he had more pressing duties requiring his attention. As for Sif… She might have helped Thor to rescue Jane because her honour wouldn't let her do otherwise, but she certainly wasn't fond of watching a display of their happiness all night long.

It was long after midnight when Ljosira returned to the palace with Loki. Even the two guards had loosened up, since they didn't even wait around the barrier after delivering Loki, but instead turned on the spot and vanished, eager to get back to the feast. So nobody was around to see the two slip through the door of his quarters together or hear the distinct click of a lock falling into place. Finally, they were alone again, for last night seemed so long ago and he had yearned to touch her all day. There was no hesitation when Loki's lips found hers in a burning kiss, and this time his clothes fell just as swiftly as hers. Yesterday, he had been struggling to maintain his usual control, but now she met each of his kisses, each move of his hands with the same passion, much less restrained by caution, and his mind let go. When he picked her up at the bedroom door, the only thing she still wore was the necklace, its metal cool against her increasingly hot skin. Ljosira was overly aware of his hands firmly on her thighs, his arousal pressed hard against her as he carried her to his bed, ripped the curtain aside and dropped her onto the soft pillows.

But she felt brave today and before Loki knew what was happening, she had twisted her legs around his waist and rolled him over, settling herself on top of him. He only had a short moment in which his eyes widened with surprise, then he was inside of her and unable to stop himself from drawing a sharp breath. Wanting to be closer yet, Loki straightened up, guiding her movements in the same gentle but resolute way as he had during their dance. This time, there was no pain. Only his arms cradling her body, one hand on her waist and the other tracing along her spine, the whispers against her lips between quickening gasps and the rhythm that built among them like a rising tide. Until he felt her tense around him and everything else blurred away, slid out of focus as he was pushed over the point of no return into blissful release.

Long after both their hearts had slowed down, Loki still held her tightly against him, unwilling to part from her. Ljosira's fingers stroked through the slightly damp hair at the back of his head. It was incredibly soothing and he sank back into the sheets with her. Tomorrow morning, he would definitely not leave her side.

"I wish I had learned how to stop time.", she said, her eyes bearing a calm he had rarely seen in anyone.

"You can learn that?" Loki played with a strand of her silver hair lazily, stifling a yawn.

"Not really… Time is not to be meddled with. No good comes from toying with it. Only Voidwalkers are allowed to manipulate it, and even their powers are limited.", Ljosira answered softly, but Loki's eyes had already closed. As she watched him in his sleep, she was reminded of the day she had saved him from falling into the nether. He had been unconscious on her back, wearing the same youthful peace on his face, and her heart ached with a stinging regret that would never truly leave.

Loki woke to the strange feeling that something was amiss. It was still dark in his bedroom, although the first signs of dawn were approaching. Sighing drowsily, he fumbled around for Ljosira, but his hands only found cold sheets and furs. He gathered his senses and looked around in the grey twilight of his room, catching sight of her as she stood at the edge of the terrace. A silken blanket was slung around her naked shoulders and she was gazing out into the sleeping city with a distant, absent-minded look in her eyes.

"Ljosira… Is something the matter?", Loki asked, still a little hoarse from sleep. A slight shiver went through her and her lips formed into a smile, but it seemed rather sad than cheerful.

"There is no silence like the one before dawn. Everything is muffled. Everyone is still dreaming… Even their auras fade into grey.", Ljosira said quietly. The words worried him, they sounded so far away and troubled.

"Something is bothering you." It wasn't a question. Loki sat up and watched her closely. The strange gloom softened and blurred her features, but nothing could take the light from her eyes, which she now turned to him. The plea for forgiveness in them was almost frightening.

"I cannot keep secrets from you. Not for the Allfather, or for my duties, or… even if it means facing your anger.", she began, but her voice trailed away as though she struggled to find the right words, the courage. Loki merely looked at her, confused, waiting.

Ljosira heaved a great sigh and her gaze locked with his, before she confessed the one thing she had been hiding from him since she'd come to Asgard.

"I was the one responsible for you landing in the Chitauri's claws."


	17. Cloak Of Shadows

_Author's Note: So the plot thickens... I hope I am still keeping you busy with the story. Many of my reviewers have referred to the extensive way I describe things, and I want to thank you for that, because that's exactly my intention, that readers can clearly imagine what is happening, how the surroundings look, tiny details. __I have to say that creating real suspense is one of my weak points. I am still figuring out how to give subtle hints without saying too much, how to write scenes that make you wonder what will happen next, and how it will all turn out. The way J. manages to build a story like Harry Potter is one of the things I try to use as an inspiration - there are many little things that you wouldn't think matter much, but then you sit at the end and think "And she gave a hint to that in scene so-and-so!". I hope that at some point, I can create such an interwoven story myself, and I see this one as practise... As always, enjoy :) _

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It took a few moments until the meaning of her words reached him. Loki's face went blank, his eyes unfocused for a second.

"What?", he said faintly, but his expression was quickly turning into a look of disbelieving anger. "Was this your idea of rightful punishment?" The edge in his voice almost physically hurt her, and she took a step in his direction, but stopped short when she saw the rejection in his posture.

"It wasn't on purpose! Please, let me explain…", Ljosira pleaded. Loki sat up on the edge of his bed and yanked a pair of soft linen pants from his nightstand. Avoiding her eyes, he didn't notice the beseeching look in them as he rose to prowl the room, fiddling to fasten the cloth around his waist.

"By all means, explain. Explain how you brought about the nightmare of my life.", he said in a cold hiss. He was angry. Of course he was. Ending up in Chitauri space had been the worst thing that had happened to him, and now Ljosira claimed she was responsible for it all. Loki had never thought that he could feel betrayed by her, but two forces were pulling at his heart at once right now. One dark and cursing, calling him a fool for ever trusting her and letting her get close to him. The other hopeful and gentle, urging him not to judge too quickly, to listen to her, for there had to be a good reason.

"On the day you fought with Thor at the Bifröst, I was watching you from Yggdrasil. You fell into the void… and I felt the bond slip away. It was the most horrible fear I have ever felt in my life. Do you know what is down there? Where you were headed when you fell? I was so terrified, I went after you… My father told me not to, but I did it anyway.", Ljosira began, walking around in small circles and wringing her hands.

"What is down there?", Loki asked, his eyes still averted, although he was now standing still to listen.

"There is an end even to our great universe. A border, and beyond it… is nothingness. Everything that crosses it fades into non-existence. You were falling right towards the nether, but I caught up to you. However, the currents were strange that day, and… We had ventured through a disturbance, into Chitauri space. I landed for just a moment… the darkness frightened me, and then this giant beast stirred… I fled and you… you slipped from my back. When I realized you were gone from my side, it was already too late. Natta caught me on the edge of the quarantine and she didn't let me go back."

As she spoke and the words sunk into his consciousness, Loki could not look away any longer. He raised his gaze to hers and saw a single tear run down her pale cheek. The dark, angry voice in his mind was choked and drowned out by the earnest plea for forgiveness in her grey eyes. It faded, thinned, until he could hardly hear it anymore.

"I made such a terrible mistake by leaving you behind. I will live with this regret for the rest of my life, but… you would have died. I couldn't let that happen. No matter how far away I am from you, I need to protect you. It just turned out so wrong… I never meant for this to happen…" Ljosira's voice broke.

With two broad steps, he was by her side. Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her against his chest. She sank into his embrace like a soft pillow and a sigh of great relief left her, as though she had been carrying immense weight that was now lifted, leaving her light as air. Loki buried a hand in her silver hair. How could he be angry with her? He remembered very well what Aevi had said to him during the trial: _Your lifeline has been extended several times now. _Ljosira was the one who had extended it. He should have died on the day he fell from the Bifröst, he should have perished hitting the edge of the universe. And he should have been convicted to die at the trial.

"You saved my life… That was the reason you were my advocate at the trial, wasn't it?", he said softly. "You wanted to atone for your mistake… And you saved me a second time." The realization came easily as everything fell into place – it all made sense now.

Ljosira nodded and when her arms closed around his waist, the room faded away, making place for a vast space. Stars shone in the distance above, but their light dulled away the further down they were. Loki wasn't standing with Ljosira anymore, but he was flying, as quickly as his wings would carry him, urgently and more panicked than he had ever been. Flying towards complete blackness, only a blurred shape of gold and green contrasted in front of him against the blanket of gloom. It was a very bizarre feeling, seeing himself through Ljosira's eyes. She gained on him just a moment before he clashed against the gaping dark, catching him on her back. The fear was replaced by such infinite relief, it was almost overwhelming. And then the short vision ended, returning him to reality.

"I'm glad you came back. I truly am.", he whispered. When Loki leaned down to kiss her, Ljosira's heart made a great leap, ready to soar. She would not lose him. There was no worry in the world to darken the joy she felt in that moment.

* * *

Elding the Dragon King, on the other hand, had a lot to worry about. His wise dragon sight had turned away from Asgard and was now gazing at Alfheim. The borders of the Light Elves' realm looked blurry as though painted with sloppy brushstrokes. Elding sighed, wondering if he was, after all, getting old. Ever since the Convergence, his usually unerring vision had some strange chinks in it, like small blind spots in which he failed to focus.

"Father… You look worried." Vegr, his firstborn son and heir, walked into view beside Elding's giant body to stand at the edge of the viewing platform. Like all Lightbringers in their mortal form, Vegr's features were elven and regal, his long white hair tied to the back of his head in a simple braid. As crown prince of dragons, he wore a nimble sort of armor from light leather and silver plating. A small circlet of stars was on his brow.

"I am.", Elding answered with a turn of his head, looking down on his son. "Did you notice that hardly any of the Darkflight attended Ljosira's rite of passage? Natta called to them not to come." Vegr's brow furrowed.

"They were never overly fond of celebrations. Does that really bother you?", his son asked.

"Natta slips in and out of my sight more often than she did before. I have a strange feeling that secrets are being kept from me.", Elding said, sounding offended. Vegr knew his father much too well to mistake his tone for real insult. He might have been truly worried about the Darkflight, but his last statement was not directed at them alone.

"Father, you have that look in your eyes you always get when you are brooding over one of your children. And only one of them makes you worry so much that the skies around Midgard are clouded for days. You have always been more protective about her than the others.", Vegr turned his eyes to Asgard, where he could feel Ljosira's presence, shrouded by a veil of magic, but never fully invisible.

"Your sister is in love with that mortal. I have let things take their course because I couldn't bear her sadness if the bond was destroyed. And it was too late that I realized… Her devotion puts her in danger.", Elding said, his voice sharp and unyielding.

"But you have long since respected the Aesir as the wisest among the mortals. They are the closest thing to our kind, you once said to me.", Vegr mused thoughtfully.

"Just because they managed not to destroy one another like other realms, they are still mortals! They cannot control their emotions, they meddle with forces beyond their understanding. And this one, look at him. A thousand years he needed to realize where he went wrong, and he's still confused. Do you know, my son, why we are not supposed to bond with mortals?" The dragon king's piercing eyes turned to Vegr, and even his eldest son shuddered under his scrutinizing stare.

"Because our magic is dedicated to Yggdrasil, to balance between all realms. Such power is not to be given into the hands of a mortal, a single one. It's her who will get hurt in the end…" Elding's draconic features changed from chiselled austerity to fatherly concern as he spoke.

Vegr touched the side of his shimmering body, trying to communicate his own feelings to his father. Ljosira was his beloved sister, the only one he had, the tiny spark of light that bounced around excitedly to lighten his day when duties weighed too heavily on him. He remembered carrying her around on his neck when she hadn't learned to fly yet, showing her each realm from high above in Yggdrasil's crown or from far below at its very roots. The last thing he wanted was for her to get hurt. But his father and all of his other brothers had been fiercely protective of her and Vegr recalled many moments in which he'd glimpsed a hint of sadness in her eyes, like someone who had all they needed, but not the thing they truly yearned for.

"You raised her to take mother's place as Great Protector of Asgard. But father… you need to let her go a little. Let her make her own decisions. Or did you call me here to get her back?", Vegr looked up to Elding questioningly. The dragon king shook his great, eight-horned head.

"I will watch over her from here, for now. This summons has a different reason. I need you to investigate something for me. The borders of Alfheim look oddly blurry, and I am afraid that Malekith's attack has left behind disturbing magical energy. Travel to Alfheim and purge whatever residual magic you find. And Vegr… be careful. Watch out for anything… unusual.", he explained. Vegr nodded, but frowned at the last words.

"What do you expect me to find?", he asked in a serious tone.

"I do not know. And that is why I entrust this task to you only.", Elding answered, bending his head to be on eye-level with his firstborn, who held his gaze in a determined manner.

"I won't disappoint you, father."

* * *

Thor sat in front of the vast round table in his chambers. Bowls of fruit, several carafes with water and mead accompanied by a few candle sticks were usually the only things on the solid ash wood surface. But since a few weeks, Odin was delegating more and more urgent matters to him, and so the carefree food and drink were joined by piling reports, sealed letters, official requests… If drowning in parchment was what it meant to be king, he was seriously considering a change of course. After the festival, he had returned Jane to Midgard the next morning, but he was already missing her, although she was only gone for a few days. In truth, he would have been happy to go with her and leave all the paperwork and duties his father had unloaded upon him behind.

But Thor knew he couldn't do that. His father would never admit it, but he'd be the last and only member of the royal family left, if Thor would leave for Midgard. Well, except Loki… The relationship between his brother and his father was cold, or rather non-existent at best. Thor, on the other hand, had an increasing urge to ask Loki for counsel about all these tedious pieces of parchment. His brother had always been the one for clever negotiations, with his talent for words and his considerable knowledge. The guard's knock on his open door made the crown prince stop staring at a grape-vine blankly and he turned around.

"My liege. We still haven't heard from the investigation party.", he said gravely.

"It's been five days since they arrived! They should have reported long ago.", Thor stood to walk around the room restlessly.

"Should we send out another party?", the guard asked in a tentative tone, but the crown prince shook his head. "No."

"Then… What are your orders, Your Grace?" Thor crossed the distance to the door and stepped past the guard resolutely.

"I will handle this myself. Keep me posted if you hear anything.", he told the man, who bowed to him with respect, but he was already on his way to Loki's quarters. On the eve of the spring festival, Thor had sent a small group of skilled warriors to the highlands in order to look for the magical disturbances Alfheim had warned the realm about. He'd received a message after their arrival, saying that they would start searching and report back to the palace daily. But he hadn't heard a word from them since then, and that was starting to worry him. Of course there could be any number of reasons why they'd failed to get in touch until now, Thor thought as he passed the magical barrier with its two permanent guards standing sentinel. Violent storms were not scarce in the highlands, especially higher up the mountains. Or maybe the messenger birds had been caught up in the strange wind currents. Or some other, equally non-hazardous reason. But five days…

The door to Loki's quarters was closed. When his brother didn't answer the first few knocks, Thor pushed down the handle without bothering much. It was unlocked, and so he entered into an empty study. Since Loki could not go anywhere without permission from him or the Allfather, Thor had a good idea where his brother was. Still, he strolled to the bedroom door to check, swinging it open boldly.

"Loki, are you –", but he never finished his sentence.

There was a small shriek, followed by the distinct sound of glass shattering. Thor glimpsed Ljosira on the bed, plucking sheets to cover herself and disappearing beneath them. He had the impression of a bird that had dropped its plumage and was trying to gather it again in light-speed, while Loki cursed colourfully at the shards to his feet. At least his brother had pants on, but still Thor backed up into the study with some muttered apologies.

Loki emerged a minute later, fully dressed and his green eyes throwing out sparks.

"Are you familiar with the concept of knocking?!", he spat out, dripping with sarcasm. It was getting incredibly hard not to find the situation amusing, but Thor struggled to keep a straight face.

"To my defence, I knocked three times. I'm sorry, Loki. When she comes out, I'll, eh, apologize to her in person.", he tried to cut his losses. Loki snorted in derision.

"She is probably too ashamed to ever leave that room again.", he mused, rubbing his smooth chin.

"Well, that would surely benefit you…", Thor said innocently, although he couldn't hold back a grin. And to his great surprise, his brother's lips twitched in return, forming a smirk. It had been years since they'd joked good-naturedly with each other. Despite the awkward situation, he felt a light-heartedness that had been lacking for so long. Loki cleared his throat.

"Why are you here, exactly?", he inquired, walking over to his favourite armchair.

"You remember the disturbances Alfheim reported? I sent out a group of warriors to investigate as you suggested, and I haven't heard from them for five days.", Thor began, serious again. At his words, Loki's eyebrows knitted together.

"Five days… That's too long.", he mused thoughtfully.

"Have you asked Ljosira about the black holes?" Loki shook his head.

"Not yet. I didn't think it was this urgent… There were some… other issues to resolve.", he then answered absent-mindedly. Thor stopped prowling the room and looked at him sternly.

"Then see you ask her, it's urgent now. If I don't hear from my warriors by dawn tomorrow, I am going to the highlands myself. And you two will accompany me.", the crown prince said in a voice that rang with determination.

"Are you serious?" Loki's expression was dumbstruck. A familiar, adventurous glint danced in his brother's eyes. He really meant it.

"When facing unknown, strange magic, who else would be better company than a sorcerer and a dragon?", Thor replied in an encouraging tone, before he took his leave.

The echoes of his steps had just died down when Loki returned to his bedroom. Ljosira was fumbling to put on her dress without a mirror, but turned her head, frowning.

"That was the epitome of awkwardness. You forgot to lock the door!", she snapped, although it was only half-serious. A lace slipped between her fingers and she huffed in frustration.

"Allow me.", Loki hurried to assist her. Helping Ljosira get dressed in the morning was becoming a sort of ritual for him. "I thought I had locked it.", he apologized, pushing her hair aside so he could finish the last tie.

"What did Thor want, anyway?", she asked curiously, her hand reaching up to hold the strands out of his way.

"I will explain in a minute. First, I wanted to ask you something, days ago actually. Do you know anything about black holes? Magically, I mean." Ljosira turned around and faced him, looking befuddled.

"Black holes? They are just simple energy sources. Siphons, to be more precise. They gather matter, magic and even light into their core.", she said, tilting her head.

"What is inside the core? Where does all the energy go?", Loki asked, feeling an unexplainable chill travel down his spine. Ljosira's brow furrowed.

"I wouldn't know. Our clan doesn't use such magic. We feed from the light of stars. Black holes are created by the sorcery of shadows – the Darkflight's domain." At her words, Loki straightened and his expression was even more bewildered.

"Loki, you look troubled. What is going on?", she inquired, concerned.

"I'm not sure… There have been reports from Alfheim about miniature black holes scattered around the border.", he said slowly. To this, Ljosira forced a laugh.

"That is impossible. There has to be some kind of mistake. It is strictly forbidden to siphon energy from the realms themselves. Surely someone confused a similar occurrence with a black hole.", she tried to diffuse his suspicions, only she didn't sound completely convinced herself. Of course Ljosira would not want to suspect the Darkflight, for all she knew they were now a loyal clan like the others, albeit not exactly a picture of warm friendliness.

Loki couldn't forget the way Natta had looked at them both, with such open contempt. How she'd seemed giddy with excitement when the tendrils of darkness forced their way through the realms. On the other hand, such was her nature, not very unlike to himself as he was before he met Ljosira. Maybe this was the Darkflight's idea of a really good jest. Despite all that, Loki could not shake the feeling that something wasn't right. That forces beyond his comprehension were at work here. But secrecy was his element, and whether Natta was behind it or not, he would get to the bottom of this. He put his hands on Ljosira's shoulders and looked at her resolutely.

"The warriors Thor sent to investigate these disturbances are missing. Whatever is going on, there is only one way to find out. You should pack something warm. We are going to the highlands ourselves."

* * *

Cold wind howled between the jagged rocks of the mountain pass, splattering them with icy rain relentlessly. On a small advance, overlooking the forest beneath from a clearing, a hooded figure stood under an old, stone archway. It had been magnificent once, marking a spot where travellers could rest on their way to the mountain top, but now it was nothing but a ruin. A sphere of such darkness that it seemed to suck in the very light close to it hovered beneath the archway. Occasionally, the pull of its core would tear off small chunks of rock, swallowing them mercilessly. Just like it had swallowed the four warriors who had unwisely ventured too close to it.

The black hole seethed with purpose. It was close to its goal, nearing the end of its life, almost ready. But not yet. The hooded figure cast a fleeting glance at it, as if checking the progress, then turned back to the horizon, where the great city of Asgard lay somewhere in the distance.

"As expected, the crown prince is on the move. Is everything in place?", a strangely distorted voice came from the sphere. He didn't bother to face it.

"They need at least two more days. Longer than it takes the dragon princess to get here.", the stranger answered tonelessly. Behind him, the edges of the black hole quivered.

"Never mind her now. I am going to stall her until you are finished.", the bodiless voice said silkily.

"What about the mortal?", its counterpart spoke, pulling the hood deeper as the rain grew even more insistent.

"If he had been convicted at that farce of a trial, we wouldn't have to bother with him.", the voice said, and the sphere seemed to pulse with anger. Then, almost soothingly, it continued.

"But… He hungers so obviously for power, it is almost boring. Why not let him wield it? It will be such an irony, making him a pawn after he toyed around with whole worlds so inelegantly." The words were followed by a sickening, sinister laugh.

"And if he refuses?", now the figure turned to face its master, sounding unsure. There was a moment of silence.

"Then we dispose of him, but properly. I'm sure you'll figure something out."


	18. Into the Unknown

_AN: Hey guys, I haven't updated for a while because I had a little problem with the storyline and some university work to do, but now I have a longer chapter for you with some action! Fight scenes usually bother me because they have to be swift and understandable, and especially if you have 4 male characters fighting against each other, you are bound to say "he" a lot, or repeat the names.I didn't proofread this as much as I usually do, so excuse possible repeating of words... I hope it came out ok. I used another legend from Norse mythology for this, because I really like the stories and legends :) We are closing in on some major plot-happenings now! Enjoy as always. _

* * *

The palace landing site was not much frequented this early in the morning, when Loki and Ljosira arrived to see that Thor was actually bent on going through with his plan. A sky-striker hovered at the far end, ready to set off towards the thick forests and towering mountains of the highlands. Thor heaved a leather bundle and some folded blankets into the back of the vehicle, then helped Ljosira step onto the deck. As she sat down and began fidgeting with the fur-trimmed collar of her cloak, her two companions took their places at the stirring rod. She had specifically requested travel clothing for cold weather, but it was a very strange feeling to wear pants for the first time in her life. How men could possibly put up with the confining leather around their legs – even if it was lined with soft fur – seemed a mystery.

Loki and Thor hadn't changed their clothing much. They both had cloaks slung around their shoulders, but other than that they looked pretty much the same to her. But cold didn't affect them as it did a dragon, who was used to having magic radiate from her true form like a small star. The sky-striker rose into the air and folded its strange metal wings, carrying them away from the landing site. Tall towers flashed by and the palace grew smaller, while below the neat, stately houses of the city looked like perfect miniatures of themselves.

"So we really are doing this, then.", Loki mused over the head wind that piped up as the striker gathered speed.

"We are. I don't like the thought of four formidable warriors simply vanishing from the face of the earth.", Thor replied, sending the vehicle through a narrow space between two towers with confidence. The city was thinning out the closer they got to its edge, where the buildings became scarcer and radiant green meadows came into view, flanked by high treetops.

"You think that the Darkflight dragons are behind this?", Thor asked, casting both of them a worried look.

"I do. Ljosira… she begs to differ.", Loki answered, glancing over to her meaningfully. Ljosira sighed to this.

"I simply cannot fathom a reason why they would bother with such a thing. A small black hole would not give enough energy to a grown dragon. At least not enough to justify a trespass of our rules.", she explained with knitted eyebrows.

For a while, their journey continued in mutual silence. Thor watched the horizon in a slightly bored manner while Loki wrapped one of the blankets around Ljosira. Although the sun had risen sometime after they'd left Asgard behind, it seemed to lack real warmth and strangely enough, even the light was duller than Loki remembered it. As though shrouded by a thin, dark curtain. After a few hours of lush grassland and leafy trees, the great mountains became visible in the distance. At the foot, dense pine forests tinted the land in cool, dark green with their needles, but further up it all faded into slate grey.

The wind was getting considerably stronger now, rattling and shaking the poor sky striker more often than not. Before them was the reason for these violent currents: Above the snow-powdered mountain-tops, the sky was darkened by heavy storm clouds, massing into a swirling vortex. Lightning flashed across the blanket of clouds and the crackling thunder that followed made Loki and Ljosira flinch. Thor, of course, had no reason to fear a storm. He was practically one himself. But even his brow furrowed a little as they closed in on their destination, which was right below this raging tempest.

"That doesn't look very inviting.", Loki mumbled after yet another clash of thunder. Their vehicle crossed the border where the sky was still calm and the sun vanished so suddenly, it felt as though being blindfolded. Darkness fell over them and the icy drops started raining down, stinging like needles at this speed. Ljosira started shivering at once and pulled the blankets around herself, but it didn't help at all. Not only was the wind howling and the rain unyielding, but her whole being seemed to be clammy and ice-cold, gripped tightly by this horrible chill. While Thor did his best to keep the sky striker on course as it buckled and struggled in the storm, Loki noticed the miserable expression on her face. He was by her side immediately, wrapped his arms around her and tried to rub her warm, worried because he had never seen her look this uneasy and anxious.

"Can't you conjure a spell to keep yourself warm?", he almost yelled to drown the chaos around them. Ljosira shook her head desperately, moving her numb fingers, but not the tiniest bit of magic came from them. Loki felt something feeble trying to lift the shackles of his own sorcery, but it flickered and waned like a dying light. The dragon princess was beginning to look panicked now, unable to call forth her magic in this cold, in this darkness.

"I need to… shift. I can't take this anymore." She reminded him of a scared bird, fluttering against a window, desperate to break free.

"No… No, not here. It's dangerous… Thor!", Loki called to his brother, pressing Ljosira tighter against him while she struggled and flailed. "We need to land, _now_!" His brother looked at him blankly.

"But the thunder cannot hurt us! Not with Mjölnir!", he yelled back.

"Forget the thunder, Ljosira can't take the weather much longer! It's too cold for her. We need to get her somewhere warm! Land this wretched thing, _now_! Please, look at her!" The urgency in his brother's voice made Thor act without delay. He ripped the stirring handle around and the sky striker lurched downward, leaving its passengers in free fall for a sickening moment. The ground expanded rapidly, trees rushing towards them as though growing out of the earth in a time lapse. There was a horrible shriek as the engines rebelled against such mutilation and Thor tried to slow them before they crashed. He managed, but only just. The hull hit the ground with a jolting impact, cutting a swath through the mossy forest earth as it grinded to a halt. It took a moment for Loki to release Ljosira from his iron grip, but when he did, he started yelling at his brother so not even the storm's uproar could drown it out.

"I said land us, not slam us into the earth like a jamb, you fool!" Loki showered Thor with a wide variety of insults, during which they both hurried to wrap every blanket they had brought around Ljosira. She was still shivering, but she looked a tiny bit less miserable than before. Loki lifted the bundle into his arms, still glaring at Thor.

"Oh will you stop looking at me like that. Next time, you fly that darned thing. If I recall correctly, there is a small settlement not far from here…", Thor stated, wiping splatters of rain from his face as he gazed around. The trees loomed darkly over them, but at least their thick needles provided some protection against the downpour and the wind. Each flash of lightning lit up the forest, presenting it as an eerie army of jagged, sinister shapes and leaving dancing dots in Loki's vision. It was truly not at all inviting. With Ljosira in his arms and Thor scouting a little ahead, they left their sky striker behind and ventured forward, the unyielding tempest still raging above their heads.

"I'm so sorry… I don't know why the storm rattled me so much.", Ljosira said to him after a while. Her head was settled against his chest and most of her face was submerged between layers of wool.

"Don't worry about that, now. But it strikes me as strange… A storm that unhinges you like this, right when we approach the mountain foot…", Loki mused suspiciously. Thor stopped short and turned around, frowning.

"What are you saying? Do you think this is no natural storm?", he asked in a serious tone.

"I think…", Loki answered, his jaw tense, "Someone is trying to slow us down."

He had just finished his sentence when a low, menacing growl sounded from the deep shadow of the trees ahead. The sound made the hair at the back of his head stand to an end. A pair of piercing, yellow eyes appeared in the darkness, watching them with the predatory intelligence of an ancient beast, a being that has hunted for hundreds of years. And was quickly calculating its newest prey.

Another bolt of lightning illuminated everything around them, and for a split second, Loki could see him. Enormous in size even for a mountain wolf, his fur was jet black except for a few streaks of maroon, and his eyes seemed to glow with a primordial appetite. Huge, white fangs flashed from his snarl, likely capable of biting a man in two with no effort. Thor cast Loki a quick, frantic look, but they both knew what the other was thinking, for there was only one wolf like this.

Before them stood Sköll, a wolf so old and awe-striking that legends were devoted to him. It was said that his malice was powerful enough to chase the sun across the sky, and his hunger to devour it drove him to pursue it for all eternity. Of course those were stories parents told their children, and Sköll didn't actually chase after the sun trying to swallow it. But he was a very real wolf and, as all creatures of Asgard – whether people or beasts – blessed with exceptional strength and a long life.

"You know, brother… I am starting to think you are right.", Thor said in a low, sarcastic voice. His hand was already on Mjölnir's handle, but Loki's thoughts were racing now. Ljosira was still too cold to muster much of her powers, but he needed his to protect her. The tension in his muscles showed her that something was wrong, and although she could not see much from her shell of blankets, she instinctively sensed the threatening presence. With great strain, her clammy fingers began moving. They weaved a very simple spell, but even this one took longer than it should have.

Sköll flattened against the ground and the next moment, several things happened at once. The beast made a great leap towards Loki and Ljosira – much too clever to attack Thor, who was unhindered and armed; his great jaws opened wide, two rows of razor-sharp fangs shining white from the abyss of his maw; the shackles holding in his magic were lifted from Loki's wrists, and finally, after weeks, even months, he was completely free.

At the same time, with a dull clanking sound, Sköll was torn to the side as Mjölnir hit him in mid-flight. He crashed to the ground, howling in frustration. Loki used the small distraction to set Ljosira down near a tree-trunk. His sorcery burst from him after these weeks of confinement and he cast a powerful shield around her form, so strong that it would make it hard even for Sköll to break through.

"Be careful. He is ancient… ancient and cunning.", she warned him, sounding worried. Loki smiled at her roguishly and his silhouette flickered for a moment. Sköll charged at Thor, a flurry of claws and teeth, and Loki spun around to see his brother slammed into the ground, buried beneath the giant black shape.

"Stop courting the lady and do something, for heaven's sake!", he heard Thor's muffled yell and he didn't hesitate. With a graceful jump, he was on Sköll's back a second later, gripping his hands into the grizzled fur at the wolf's neck.

The spell surged along his arms to his fingertips and Sköll let out a piercing howl of pain as magic seeped into his body and made his blood boil as though it was on fire. Loki held on for dear life when the beast shuddered and thrashed around to throw off the source of his agony, gnarling and extracting angry grunts from Thor as he trampled him in his efforts. From very close by, a high cry answered Sköll's wails and Loki's head whipped around just in time. The ground rumbled with the thuds of four giant legs running at full speed and a blurred, grey shape burst from the shadows, charging right at him.

"Loki!", Ljosira screamed, but before the crushing jaws could rip him apart, his form flickered again and dissolved. The two wolves collided and the impact tore Sköll away from Thor, sending both beasts to the ground in a heap. The crown prince was on his feet immediately, Mjölnir soaring into his hand.

"Great job, Loki! You summoned Hati too.", he yelled accusingly. Loki appeared from behind a tree, huffing.

"You say that as if I did it on purpose!" Hati and Sköll disentangled themselves and leaped again, one at Loki, one at Thor. Thor met Sköll headlong and slammed Mjölnir into the wolf's muzzle. There was a horrible cracking sound and his body shifted in mid-jump, but he managed to scrape his sharp claws across Thor's torso before he was thrown to the ground, whimpering.

Hati on the other hand was swift and much less straightforward, but rather zigzagged towards Loki, who followed every move with edgy alertness. His fighting style was not as physical and based on strength as his brother's, and since he didn't have a weapon at hand, he needed to rely on his magic completely. As Hati dashed around him in a sort of predatory dance, Loki tried to anticipate the jump. And surely enough, when the wolf made a sharp turn and leaped, he let himself fall backwards to the ground. The claws missed his face by an inch and Hati soared over him. Almost gently, Loki reached out a hand and touched the soft, vulnerable spot at the wolf's underside.

The blast wave hit Hati as effectively as any weapon would and he was hurled through the air helplessly, crashing against a tree with an uncomfortable, loud snap. They weren't dead, but both swayed dangerously after gathering themselves, whining in pain. The wolf brothers seemed to understand that they had bit off more than they could chew, which was clear by the way their tails withdrew between their legs. Hati scuttled over and helped his brother, whose jaw stood in an odd angle after meeting with Mjölnir.

Their eyes were fixed on Thor and Loki defiantly. Such creatures would not run. They would go down with their teeth bared and their glare meeting their killer's eyes, even though they were too weakened to put up much of a fight. Mjölnir swung out, as did Loki's hand, but before they delivered the death-blows, Ljosira's voice stopped them.

"Wait!" She had dropped a few of her blankets and was now walking to the cowering wolves. "Don't kill them…" Hati and Sköll eyed her cautiously, but did not attack. Even in this hunched form, they almost towered over Ljosira and Loki fought the urge to drag her away from them.

"Animals sense disturbances of space and time much more distinctly… I think whatever change happened to their home is confusing them. Isn't that right?", she addressed the wolves. Sköll growled in a hostile way, but Hati bowed his head slightly and whimpered.

"We are not the ones who are responsible. We are here to stop it.", Ljosira said softly, meeting their eyes without fear. "Will you leave us be?" The fur on Sköll's back rippled and he snarled. Hati silenced him with a snap of his jaw and reluctantly, his brother gave in. Limping and battered, they both rose to full height, turning with frequent wary glances at their mutilators.

A moment later, they had disappeared between the trees, although their heavy paws could be heard for a while in the darkness. Silence fell over the battleground. Even the storm was slowly receding. The thunder seemed more distant and the raindrops were rarer than before, but the cold and the dark were still adamant, unwilling to release their grip on the highlands.

"Well this was an adventurous day so far. I will need the blacksmiths to create a new armor…", Thor muttered, cleaning the three cuts Sköll's claws had left on his torso with his drenched cape. They weren't deep – his armor had taken most of the blow, so the slight bleeding was more of a nuisance than a real injury. Loki proceeded to re-wrap Ljosira into her blankets, because she was already shivering violently again.

"How did you know?", he asked quietly while he rubbed the wool to warm her up.

"Hati. His aura was confused… He seemed so lost somehow, behind the ferocity. The feeling was like… something you had known for your whole life has shifted, and you cannot find your way back.", she explained, back up in his arms again.

"What about Sköll?", Loki wondered as the three of them started climbing up a hillside. Ljosira shook her head.

"Sköll was just angry. There was nothing more. Does this cold not bother you at all?", she replied with a frown.

"We could be in a blizzard and it would not matter to me. I reckon that is the one advantage of being a Jotun. They do not feel cold.", he smiled a little wryly.

"But you feel warmth." Her voice was muffled by the blankets, but it made Loki's lips form a more genuine smile. "Unlike me right now… I feel all numb and frozen and damp."

"The settlement cannot be far. Thor?", Loki addressed his brother, who had taken the lead again and was squinting up the moss-covered slope.

"I think I can see a light up there.", he said hopefully.

After an hour of climbing uphill on the slippery, slackened earth that slowed them down considerably, they reached a large, even clearing. Several steady-looking huts stood before them, built in a loose circle. Their round shapes somehow reminded Loki of hedgehogs, because they had long wooden and ivory spears sticking out of their tops. He'd never been to the highlands before, but he'd seen pictures of the villages, much more modest and primitive than those imposing marble buildings in the city.

Traditionally, the walls of these huts were quite low. The roofs on the other hand, looked like giant helms on too small heads. Sometimes they lay slightly askew, so they reached down to the ground and soft mountain grass was growing up the spiky backsides. Each had a stone chimney from which smoke rose happily into the cold air. Light shone through the dozen round windows and a roaring bonfire burned brightly in the middle of the clearing. A great canvas stretched out above the fireplace, tied to the high trees, its centre cut out for the smoke to escape.

Several men and women dressed in thick furs and sturdy leather sat around the crackling flames, talking or eating what looked like roasted venison. Both Loki's and Thor's stomachs reacted to the delicious smell with a low rumble. Thor holstered Mjölnir safely to his side and walked down between two houses, stepping from the shadows into the firelight.

"My humble greetings, highlands hunters.", he said loudly, revealing his presence. A few people jumped to their feet, obviously startled by his sudden appearance. Two men unsheathed their weapons, but a woman with long, grey hair stood and waved at them dismissively.

"You fools, are your heads too full with straw to recognize who stands before you?", she shunned the hunters. Her face seemed strangely ageless, although her wise, dark eyes suggested that she had to be ancient. They moved to stare at Mjölnir unerringly and a smile spread across her lips.

"Bow to the crown prince of Asgard, before he decides to use you as target practice!", the woman said in a strict voice. The two young men who had drawn their weapons suddenly looked very contrite and bowed down respectfully before Thor. As did every other person seated around the fire. But their gazes darted back up again when Loki stepped up next to him, holding Ljosira in her bundle of blankets.

"If you'd be so kind… We really need a good, warm hearth. Our friend did not take the storm well.", Thor continued slowly. As soon as he had spoken the words, a heated discussion broke out between the villagers, who were all very competitive about which of their houses the royal visitors would occupy. In the end, the grey-haired woman silenced them all and declared that the princes would stay in her hut, since whoever they brought with them probably needed the attention of a healer. The others accepted this with a few disappointed mumbles, but the woman seemed to be the one in charge here, and they all obeyed.

"My name is Grafa, I am the healer of this small village. Come, come.", she told Loki and Thor, leading them to her hut. Above the low door, a wreath of thistles had been hung. Runes carved the frame and Loki smiled as he recognized an old saying: _The shame you cannot lift away, you had better let lie._ Grafa opened the door and they entered into the cozy, warm interior. The hearth burned merrily in the centre of the room, the chimney rising like a support column from it. A table was built around the fireplace, pots and pans arranged neatly on nails hammered into its side. Besides a bookshelf stuffed with ancient tomes, there was a second rack with countless small boxes in it. They smelled strongly of herbs. Thor had to crouch at some point so his head didn't touch the feather bundles hanging from the ceiling bars. Grafa directed Loki to a quilted armchair and he set Ljosira down in it gently.

"Cold as ice…", Grafa mumbled with a hand on Ljosira's cheek. "Not the expected reaction of an Aesir woman to a storm like this.", she went on, hurrying to her herb-storage and fumbling with her back turned to the three visitors.

"She is not of Asgard. A dragon, a Lightbringer in her mortal form.", Thor said meaningfully. His words made Grafa spin around, awe-struck.

"By my old bones… I never thought I would live to see one of them. A torchbearer of truth, guardian of Yggdrasil…" Her eyes were transfixed on Ljosira's face, who smiled in a kind, yet tired sort of way.

"Thank you for your hospitality, good elder. I feel better already.", she told the old woman. And it was true. The numb cold from before was starting to fade and she felt exhausted. Ljosira began to wonder if Loki had been right. A storm usually did not rattle or rob her of strength this much. Cold and darkness weakened her mortal form, but they would not leave her incapable of calling forth her magic. Then there was the unfortunate encounter with Sköll and Hati… and, like a blanket over all of it, this strange blurriness. While Grafa prepared her a warm soup and Loki talked to Thor in a hushed tone, Ljosira tried to look beyond the hut's walls. Every aura she glimpsed was a little distorted, clouded by a thin veil of magic that seemed to linger on everything. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. Maybe she was just too exhausted for the proper use of her dragon sight.

"If I can help you in any way, please feel free to ask for anything.", Grafa said proudly when she handed Ljosira a bowl of steaming hot, delicious broth. "You must be on an important task… Two princes of Asgard and a dragon lady."

"Actually… Have four warriors travelled through here? It must have been around five days ago. I sent them to investigate strange magical occurrences here in the highlands.", Thor said, sounding hopeful.

"Yes, they came through here. They were headed for the mountain pass.", Grafa frowned as she answered. "I told them not to. Strange things happen at the mountain these days. The wolves howl all night, like there is no tomorrow. The path lies in darkness, the sun never seems to reach it anymore. And something moves in the shadows…", she murmured, her eyes unfocused. Thor and Loki looked at her, then they shared a worried glance between each other.

"I am sorry, my lords. Excuse an old hag's doomsayer tales. It just somehow doesn't feel right, though I am sure your warriors are well. But I suggest you let the dragon lady rest for the night, before you venture on.", Grafa indicated Ljosira, who, after finishing her soup quickly, had fallen asleep at once, huddled up on the armchair.

"I have a small spare bedroom where she can sleep. But for you, your grace…", the old woman began.

"Loki stays with her. As for me, I'll be just fine here on the floor.", Thor said with a grateful smile.

A few minutes later, Loki had set Ljosira down on the tiny cot in Grafa's bedroom and covered her with enough furs to keep her warm and cosy. There wasn't nearly enough space for him to lie down next to her, so he half-sat, half-spread out in a creaky rocker, the only other notable piece of furniture in the room. Despite the troubling conditions of their journey, it was exceptionally soothing to watch Ljosira's sleeping face. The way the one candle on the nightstand lit it up with flickering, soft light. As the rocker swayed, Loki was overcome by drowsiness and before he knew it, a strange sleep had enveloped him, in which he wandered an empty plane covered by thick mist, blind to what lay before or behind him.

He woke with a start to complete darkness. The candle had gone out. Panicked, Loki strained his eyes, but he calmed down quickly when he heard Ljosira's even breaths. Still, something was wrong. A shiver went down his spine, although he could not say why he felt so on edge all of a sudden. It was as though unseen eyes were watching him from the shadows. Not like those of Sköll or Hati, no beast eyes. But the eyes of something much older, much more clever, the sinister intelligence of millennia swirling in its dark gaze. And then he heard it. A velvet, smooth voice, like the night itself, whispering his name, calling him.

"_Loki._"


	19. Neglect

_AN: I had a lot of fun writing the conversation that follows in this chapter. This is called Neglect, because when I looked up the meaning of the word in the dictionary, I found that it can be used both as a synonym to contempt - as a sign of animosity, and as a synonym for oblivion - meaning to forget something. Both these meanings play a role in this next chapter. As always, i hope you enjoy and stay with me :) (Oops, I just reread this and came across a flaw... fixed it XD) _

* * *

"_Loki._"

He shuddered and went completely still, listening. For a moment, he thought he had imagined the whisper, since all he could make out was the silence of the night. But just when he was about to lean back into the rocker, it sounded again.

"_Come._", the bodiless voice said. Loki was sure that only he could hear it, although he had no idea where that knowledge came from, it was simply there. Wind whistled in a high, eerie tone through the small window's cracks. Behind the glass, utter and deep darkness gaped back at him, but for some reason Loki sensed that the whispers were coming from outside the house.

"_Step into the night_." He rose and walked to the window. His eyes almost started to tear with the strain as he tried to grow accustomed to the shade, to penetrate the night with his stare. Blinking several times, he could distinguish the shapes of the trees. And there, between them, stood someone. Or something. The silhouette was so dark and unclear in the dead of the night that Loki could only make out the whites of its eyes, and it was looking right at him.

"Who are you?", he inquired in his thoughts, certain that it would be heard.

"_Step into the night. You will see."_, the shade answered wordlessly. Loki looked down at Ljosira, still fast asleep beneath the blankets. If he woke her up now, the thing might disappear before he had the chance to talk to it. Or worse, whatever dark magic it was made of could hurt her. Again, the knowledge what to do came to him from nowhere. He simply took a step forward, and as though there had been nothing but air in front of him, he stepped through the solid wall. Emerging from the other side, he found himself at the back of the hut. A string of pearly white teeth formed into a grin below the figure's eyes in mock anticipation. It looked downright ghastly. But Loki wasn't easily frightened, and so he walked closer to the edge of the forest, watching the stranger with wary suspicion. When he was only a few feet away, he noticed that the figure's contours didn't become clearer. Instead, it seemed to consist of two eyes and a grin floating mid-air in an odd, wobbly cloud of blackness.

"I don't like talking to a shadow. Maybe I should wake my brother…", Loki said threateningly, turning halfway around. But he didn't get far. The shade jumped right at him before he could take even one step, strong fingers clenching around his throat and pressing him up against a tree so fiercely he could feel the bark cut into his neck.

"I think we are just fine, the two of us alone." The shadows slipped from his attacker like water running down a drain, and Loki looked into abysmal eyes glaring at him from a familiar, etched face.

"Natta.", he managed to say breathlessly, although the hands choking him didn't diminish the contempt in his voice.

"It seems I made an impression.", she said with a sinister smile, before she loosened her grip and took a step back. The Darkflight leader was slightly smaller than him, with long raven-black hair framing her sharp features. She had a strange, dark beauty that felt as much dangerous as it was alluring, even more emphasized by the full-length gown she wore. Black feathers rose from her shoulder to form a wing and countless small ties criss-crossed the deep, revealing neckline.

"So it was you. You are behind all these strange occurrences.", Loki stated humourlessly, rubbing his throat. Natta turned and walked around between the tree trunks, playing with her gown carelessly. The fact that she didn't mind showing him her vulnerable back was almost like open scorn – it told Loki that no matter how much magic he could muster, it wouldn't scratch her even while she was off her guard.

"You know Loki… I really can't stand you. You freed my most precious prisoners and drove them to extinction in your attempt of vigilante justice on Midgard. And then your brother – and you to no small part – stopped the wonderful darkness from descending. The time of light is starting to bore me… you managed to ruin the last little joys I'd cherished.", she mused in a vaguely interested tone, her long-nailed fingers tracing along the feathers at her shoulder.

"You have been a thorn in my side ever since the dragon princess so unluckily dropped your lying, cheating, miserable life in Chitauri space. The irony! And all because she's a lovesick little girl, blinded by that ridiculous life-bond." Natta let out a mocking laugh that made Loki cringe in anger and unease alike.

"Don't you dare insult her like that.", he warned, although it was a hollow threat. What could he possibly do to the leader of a flight? Natta ignored him.

"I could kill you within a heartbeat. Right here, right now. Snuff out your pitiful existence before she would awaken to feel that you're in danger.", she said, her eyes full of darkness boring into him.

"But… That would be a waste. Because besides the error of your ways, you have a very redeeming quality.", Natta stepped closer to him and smiled in a way any mortal man would have fallen for. And died for his mistake afterwards.

"Which is?", Loki asked tonelessly.

"You are clever! Very good at schemes and plans… and working from the shadows. That is our way, the Darkflight way. We are more alike than you know. And I am willing to forget our past differences and form a mutually beneficial alliance." Loki merely snorted to this, but Natta didn't seem to care.

"I don't like the… chain of command much these days. All this order is simply…an awful bore. I don't mean any lasting harm, of course. I just want to stir up the balance of power a little. Wouldn't that be fun?", she continued, walking around him with her hands making wide gestures.

"What are you playing at, Natta?", Loki asked impatiently. The Darkflight leader came into view from behind and stopped right in front of him.

"In my possession, I have an item that can be equally useful to both of us. After you have spent so much time in… close proximity to a dragon", she emphasized the last part in a very sarcastic tone –"I am sure you have understood that we are most vulnerable while in our mortal body. The item – a weapon to be more precise – is capable of drawing vast quantities of magic from a dragon's mortal form and bestowing it upon the wielder. Let's say I would give this weapon to you. Of course you would never use it on the dragon princess – don't look at me like that, I'm no fool. But I could arrange for another dragon to come down in his mortal form… a concerned brother, for example. You could become the most powerful sorcerer in the Nine Realms. And I would have a good laugh at tipping the scales.", she explained further.

"What makes you think that I would possibly betray Ljosira like that?", Loki asked, seething with insult, but Natta sneered and leaned closer to him, until she was just an inch away. Looking into her eyes was like staring into a bottomless hole.

"Do you honestly think… that the dragon princess will stay by your side? Sure, you are a fine sorcerer, and right now she is happy. But you are a mortal. So fragile… so… fleeting is your life. Even as an Aesir – which you are only by extension – your existence will soon become a burden to her. And she will start doubting her love… the bond. You know it's true. You have felt this fear before.", Natta's voice was made of silk, a slithering, smooth whisper of doubt in his ears. Yes he had felt it, after Ljosira had returned to him, acting distant and detached.

"That was different…", Loki began, but her hand grabbed his face suddenly and long nails dug into his cheeks, forcing him to meet her eyes.

"Do _not_ lie to the mistress of shadows, trickster. I _am _the night. Don't think I haven't heard what you entrust to me in your darkest moments. What you whisper when qualm envelops you.", her words were low and menacing like the hiss of a snake.

"Imagine… the power of an immortal creature. You could be her equal. How could the dragon princess reject you then? She will be by your side forever…", Natta cooed, sounding velvet and tempting again. Loki held her gaze evenly, although it was by far no simple task.

When he spoke, each word dripped with contempt.

"There is no temptation, no amount of power, no immortality you can offer me that would justify betraying Ljosira.", he spat out at her. "Consider this a refusal."

For the fraction of a second, unspeakable rage flared in Natta's eyes and Loki was almost sure she would annihilate him just with her stare.

"Men like you don't change, _mortal_. They might try. They might even persuade themselves that they are capable of change. But in the wake of peril, they welcome the comforting darkness back into their souls. You above all should know… An illusion cannot turn to reality. You are still the same squirming, lying, heartless creature that has no business in a life of light. Before the end comes, you will realize that.", she said gently before she let go of him and stepped back.

"I wonder how wise you will find your decision to refuse me in the light of day?", Natta questioned. Her lips formed into a gruesome grin, and in the next moment, her form blurred and melted into the shadows.

"Oh, and if you happen to breathe a word about our little chat to anyone… No council decision can save you from my wrath. I will see to it that nothing but a pile of ash remains of your miserable mortal life. Reconsider my offer." The words seemed to be projected into his very thoughts, making Loki shudder. Then Natta was gone, and all he could hear were the sounds of the forest. Only now did he notice that during their conversation, owls had stopped hooting, the distant howls of wolves had fallen silent. Now they resumed their nightly symphony, as though nothing sinister had transpired. Loki simply stood there in the darkness, unmoving, trying to grasp the meaning of what Natta had just told him. The thoughts seemed to struggle inside his head like horse carriages at a very blocked crossroads, unable to move forward, unable to turn back, prancing on the spot.

Natta had a weapon capable of siphoning the immortal magic energy from a dragon, but how in the world did she come by such a weapon? And what did she truly intend to do with it? Was it really just a little conflict she wanted to stir up for her own personal amusement? Loki remembered his trick years ago at the coronation ceremony, when he had allowed a small group of frost giants to enter Asgard with the intention of delaying his brother's reign and causing an entertaining bit of chaos. Natta had indicated that one of Ljosira's brothers would have been the victim of her weapon, not Ljosira herself. But Loki felt uneasy. For the first time, he thought he truly understood why the Darkflight deserved their name. Planning in the shadows, their true goals hidden from everyone else by a veil of treachery. What stung him was that this way of operating was all too familiar to him, for he had followed exactly the same course of action once.

Had Natta been right? Was he not capable of change? Her offer had not left him untouched. Power, unlimited… Immortality… it was tempting. But not worth the price. _I made my decision., _he told himself. Still, the seed of doubt had been sown. Would Ljosira stay by his side, even if he was not the greatest sorcerer in the Nine Realms? Even if she realized that he was mortal, so much different than her? He felt brittle, like an autumn leaf that crumbled at the slightest touch of winter.

It was the right decision. It had to be. What bothered him even more were the consequences of his decision. He could not tell Ljosira what he had learned right now – it would be foolishly dangerous to take Natta's threat lightly. They were all way too vulnerable outside the palace, far from the protected home and deep inside strange lands, where he was sure Elding's sight could not reach through the shroud the Darkflight had created with their disturbances. She hadn't answered his question if she was behind all of it, but Loki was more than certain of it. Fear was slowly growing in his mind. What if Natta decided to use her weapon on Ljosira after all, as retribution for him refusing her offer? He had to get Ljosira back to the palace, soon. But he also needed to find out more about the Darkflight's true intentions.

Frustrated, Loki sighed and returned into the hut silently. Ljosira was where he had left her, sleeping soundly, and for the rest of the night, Loki just sat in the rocker and looked at her, as though her face would give him the answers to all the questions in his mind if he watched it long enough. As the sun rose to bring a misty and greyish morning, the only conclusion he had drawn was that no matter how limited his powers were, he would use every last ounce to protect her from harm. A ray of light fell through the tiny window unto her small hand, tinting it in the pale light of dawn. She must have shifted in her sleep so the blankets had slipped. Loki reached out and closed his fingers around hers. They were much warmer now, but he let a little magic course through her hand nevertheless. Ljosira stirred from the touch and her eyes fluttered open. Smiling sleepily, she returned the pressure of his fingers.

"Were you up all night?", she asked quietly. Loki leaned forward and planted a kiss on her palm.

"I have slept. But not much.", he answered, making her frown a little.

"Why? You need all your strength too…" Now she was about to sit up, but he pushed her back down gently, sliding from the rocker and next to her onto the narrow bed.

"I find it relaxing to watch you sleep sometimes. And I wanted to be awake if you needed anything." A familiar flash of silver crossed her eyes, and what she saw there made her eyebrows knit together. At least she could still see _him_ clearly, although that might have been due to his proximity.

"You are worried. And anxious.", she stated. It wasn't a question. Loki slipped a hand beneath her head and huffed, rearranging the blankets so he could fit beneath them. He had to half lie on top of her, because the bed was really small. Leaning his head into his free hand, he scrutinized her accusingly.

"Of course I am worried. You frightened me a good deal yesterday, Ljosira. I was scared for you… This journey is proving more dangerous for you than for my brother and me. I would rather… know you are safe at home…" He spoke the truth – at least one half of it. At his words, she smiled playfully and he was glad, because she looked much better than the evening before.

"It's fine. I am immortal, you know.", she teased him, pulling at a strand of his black hair.

"That does not mean you are invulnerable.", Loki noted a little more grimly than he intended. To this, Ljosira stretched and kissed his temple gently.

"You still think the Darkflight have some sinister plan in motion… We will find out the truth soon… but I hate to see you worried like this. Is it too late to distract you a little before we must move on?" Her lips grazed over his cheek to the corner of his mouth and he relaxed, the touch tempting him to forget his worries at least for a little while.

"Never too late.", Loki mumbled against her lips, before he sealed them with a kiss that made the narrow space between them seem almost too wide yet. And when his searching hands found her bare skin beneath all the layers of fur-trimmed cloth, the shudder that went through her had nothing to do with cold. This was the first time he wasn't confined behind barriers or tied down by a spell, and he was much more aware of the surging magic in her. It tingled at his fingertips like the smallest electric current, just as he remembered it from the day on the balcony. It became stronger with each touch, each shed piece of cloth, each kiss, until Loki lost track of the world around him as she pulled him into her own. And the moment he united with her, Ljosira let him feel it. The bond. He would describe it as many things later. But right now, it felt like… falling. Falling with the absolute, adamant certainty that touching the ground could never hurt.

It wasn't until an hour later that a decisive knock at the door returned them to reality. They disentangled themselves from each other and Loki helped her get dressed. The night before, he had peeled the damp clothes off her and set them to dry at the fireplace. Now Ljosira smiled at the lingering warmth of the hearth as her skin touched the fur on the inside. Thor was already eating some juicy-looking venison when they met him in the living room, while Grafa scuttled around and packed various things into a leather bag. A loaf of bread, some dried strips of meat and bundles of herbs.

"Thankfully, that horrible storm is over. But the mountain pass is windy and cold, and it will be a long climb. We do not have much to offer, but this should keep you fed for a while and help with injuries.", she said, handing Loki the bag. Thor stood and put his hand on the old woman's shoulder.

"Thank you, Grafa. Your kindness means more than you know.", he bowed his head humbly and Loki nodded in agreement. For a moment, Grafa's dark eyes looked watery with emotion, but then she cleared her throat and gathered herself. Highlands folk were very proud people. A visit from the royal princes and a guardian of Yggdrasil filled them with such elation they would have floated away if their feet weren't attached firmly to the ground. And of course such guests must be treated with the proper hospitality. It was custom in these regions of Asgard to give a parting guest a small token of respect, a sign of good will and luck for their further journey. Grafa too, now arranged three items on the table by the fireplace. Ljosira and Loki could feel the faint echo of ancient magic in each of them. Not the complicated, faceted weaves real sorcerers used, but the simple, old magic of nature. The first thing Grafa picked up looked like an arrangement of long brown feathers. Some were specked and striped, others one-colored, but in many shades.

"Feathers of the pine-top eagle. Their eyes never fail to see when heavy mists cloud the lands below. Many hunters have used these so their aim would always be true. If you tie them to Mjölnir's handle, you will hit your target, even if your sight is clouded.", she handed them to Thor, who did as suggested. Next, Grafa lifted a slender, white object into her hand. Rich carvings covered it, winding around a small row of holes that lined the surface.

"A bone-flute.", Loki mused when she held it out to him.

"Good eye, my prince. Every hunter carries one when he ventures into the woods, and they are passed down for generations. This belonged to my son, heavens grant him rest.", Grafa said in a grave tone.

"What happened to him?", Ljosira asked quietly, to which the old woman sighed.

"Went for a hunt on a winter day… Left this at home and never returned. The woods can be treacherous, even experienced hunters get lost sometimes. The flute helps them to… find their way back.", she answered and put it into Loki's outstretched hand. Respectful silence followed her words, during which he felt the flute quiver ever so slightly, as though some inaudible tune was resonating inside. At last, Grafa picked up a faded white cloak that looked like it had been worn once too often. But when Ljosira touched it, she sensed a faint, warm tingling in her fingers and despite the rugged appearance, the fabric was incredibly soft.

"A cloak woven from the wool of our most precious mountain sheep, which have no equal. It's old, but you won't freeze in another storm. Rain will simply slide off it. This one was mine, and it served me well for many years.", Grafa said, draping the cloak around Ljosira with an almost rueful expression. There was no arguing with her – she insisted on giving them these gifts with fierce determination.

The villagers gathered together in a small procession leading from Grafa's hut to the far edge of the forest, where a roughly visible path wound towards the towering rock formations of the mountain foot. As the three travellers walked to the clearing, Grafa shooed the villagers away and turned to face them.

"Be careful… Stranger creatures than wolves live up the jagged cliffs. May the Allfather bring you back unharmed.", she said reverently, her hands forming a traditional gesture of farewell.

With newfound energy Ljosira, Loki and Thor set out on the pathway. Each couldn't help but glance back frequently at the disappearing village, but soon the lingering morning mist had enveloped it as they ventured further, and Grafa's silhouette faded into grey. All they could see were the ghostly shapes of trees and the almost indiscernible track they followed. Since Thor scouted ahead again, Ljosira took up a conversation with Loki, although he wasn't very talkative. His fingers moved restlessly, weaving countless surveillance spells and small shield runes, while he glanced around absent-mindedly. Sometimes they stopped under the protective crown of a tree to eat a bite from the provisions Grafa had packed for them and Ljosira traced the soft seam of her cloak, wondering about the ancient tribal magic woven into it. A pity it didn't help her blurred sight… Walking, resting for a few minutes, eating, walking, grey in grey… This went on and on for what seemed like hours, and Ljosira was starting to have an unsettling feeling she couldn't quite place.

Even after they reached the mountain foot and began to hike on winding, stony pathways between rocks, the mist did not diminish, although it must have been way past midday. If anything, it got thicker, until one could not see even ten feet ahead through the swirling haze. The looming cliffs looked as if viewed through an unfocused lens that distorted everything and made it impossible to concentrate on a single point. Ljosira had no idea how far they had come. She glanced up into the sky, but found only the same sea of grey, no sun far and wide. Her eyes grew tired as she tried to peek ahead on the path, and her thoughts were so sluggish, she even forgot that she had something like dragon sight.

The odyssey in this foggy weather made her lose track of time, and she felt oddly detached from the rest of the world, as though she was drifting further away from… a sort of home she once knew. A long way off, Ljosira could sense the bonds to her brothers and her father fade until they slowly vanished for some reason, but at the same time her mind turned more and more clouded, indifferent. Their images became blurry like wet paintings, making it harder to remember their faces… The isolation of the mountain seeped into her and erased them, wiped them from her memory, leaving behind a state of natural solitude. Bonds didn't seem so vital anymore and a comforting emptiness spread through her thoughts. Did she have a family to protect? Was there really such a thing as a bond? Or was there only this all-engulfing fog, where she could wander around, forever?

Thor stopped so suddenly in front of them that Ljosira and Loki walked right into his back with a thump. The impact ripped Ljosira from her trance and she blinked. Something very important was amiss, but what? There had been a thing… several things…

"This is unnerving me! We have gotten lost.", Thor snapped, turning around. Loki glared at him, his expression overly annoyed.

"How can you possibly know that? Have you walked down this path before? Are you some sort of navigational genius?", he retorted. Something seemed strange about their tone of voice. It sounded exaggerated and on edge, too much for this simple issue, but Ljosira couldn't muster the proper words to explain this to them.

"Of course not. I will simply conjure a storm to make this darned fog disappear.", Thor said and his hand went to Mjölnir's handle, but Loki grabbed his wrist tightly.

"Are you out of your mind?! You can't conjure a storm after what happened yesterday! You'll damn us all!" He was yelling now. Thor joined in, and soon they were engaged in a fierce argument, utterly deaf to everything around them. Ljosira had a mounting feeling of anxiety, because this was wrong. Her instincts told her that fighting was the worst thing they could do right now, but her mind moved too slow… Why shouldn't they fight? Lost… they were lost… Solitude… Separation… Those words sounded alarming, but why? She remembered something… Something about things that were not what they seemed to be. But it was useless. No coherent thought would come.

"Fine! Go on, then! I'm not walking around in circles anymore, I'm going to find a nice high cliff…", Thor yelled so it echoed eerily off the rocks.

"May you be struck by your own lightning and drop dead! I'm going ahead on the _right _way.", Loki interrupted him scornfully. They both spun around on the spot, completely ignoring that she was present, and walked off into opposite directions, one up the path, one down. Ljosira stood, dumbfounded, in the middle.

"We can't get separated.", she said meekly to the void, but only silence answered her words. They were gone. And then, with horrifying impact, the realization dawned on her. The mist was not natural. It had been specifically created to mess with their minds, to set Thor and Loki against each other and numb her so she wouldn't bring them to their senses. Whoever was behind the storm, the appearance of Sköll and Hati, the disturbances… they had succeeded.

Because now she was lost in this fresh hell, this sinister fog, cut off from the rest of the world, from her bonds, from Loki. And she was utterly alone.


End file.
